Shloka 78
Vidura-nīti: Atithi-dharma, Trust, Counsel-Secrecy, and Traits of Sustainable Rule
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 38
अनाम्नायमला वेदा ब्राह्मणस्याव्रतं मलम्
anāmnāya-malā vedā brāhmaṇasyāvrataṃ malam | bāhlīka-deśaḥ pṛthivyā malaṃ caiva nṛṇāṃ mṛṣā || krīḍā-hāsa-ratir bhartṛ-vratāyā mala ucyate | bhartṛ-hīnā ca yā nārī parā-deśe vasen malam ||
Vidura teaches that neglect and moral lapse are like stains that defile what should be pure. The Vedas are ‘stained’ when they are not studied and recited; a brahmin is ‘stained’ when he abandons the disciplines and vows proper to his station. A far-off frontier region (Bāhlīka) is called a ‘stain’ upon the earth, and falsehood is a ‘stain’ upon a man. For a devoted wife, an excessive taste for play and frivolous joking is said to be a stain; and for any woman, living in a foreign land without her husband is described as a stain. The verse frames dharma as something maintained by practice, restraint, truthfulness, and appropriate conduct.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is preserved by practice: sacred knowledge must be maintained through study, social roles through discipline, and personal integrity through truthfulness and restraint. Neglect, falsehood, and inappropriate conduct are portrayed as ‘stains’ that degrade individuals and institutions.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura delivers moral and political counsel (Vidura-nīti) amid the tense pre-war negotiations. This verse is part of his didactic instruction, listing examples of what counts as moral ‘impurity’ in different domains—scripture, priestly life, human character, and household conduct.