Shloka 32
मूर्खोंद्रारा सेवित निरर्थक कलहका बुद्धिमान् पुरुषको त्याग कर देना चाहिये। ऐसा करनेसे उसे लोकमें यश मिलता है और अनर्थका सामना नहीं करना पड़ता ।। प्रसादो निष्फलो यस्य क्रोधश्चापि निरर्थक: । नतं भर्तारमिच्छन्ति षण्ढं पतिमिव स्त्रिय:,जिसके प्रसन्न होनेका कोई फल नहीं तथा जिसका क्रोध भी व्यर्थ होता है, ऐसे राजाको प्रजा उसी भाँति नहीं चाहती, जैसे स्त्री नपुंसक पतिको
prasādo niṣphalo yasya krodhaś cāpi nirarthakaḥ | na taṁ bhartāram icchanti ṣaṇḍhaṁ patim iva striyaḥ ||
Vidura says: A ruler whose favour yields no real benefit, and whose anger is equally ineffectual, is not desired as a lord by his people—just as women do not wish for an impotent husband. The ethical point is that authority must be meaningful: reward should encourage virtue and service, and punishment should restrain wrongdoing; otherwise leadership becomes contemptible and socially destabilizing.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must have consequential favour and consequential punishment. If neither reward nor wrath produces results, authority loses legitimacy; people will not accept such a leader, and disorder follows.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura offers political-ethical counsel (nīti) about kingship. Here he criticizes an ineffectual sovereign whose approval and anger are both meaningless, warning that such a ruler will be rejected by his subjects.