Shloka 17

Udyoga Parva Adhyaya 62 — Duryodhana’s Claim of Victory and Vidura’s Allegories on Discord and Risk

Devanagari script

अलोलुपस्तथाल्पेप्सु: कामानामविचिन्तिता । समुद्रकल्प: पुरुष: स दान्त: परिकीर्तित:,जो निर्लोभ, कम-से-कम चाहनेवाला, भोगोंके चिन्तनसे दूर रहनेवाला तथा समुद्रके समान गम्भीर है, उस पुरुषको दान्त (इन्द्रियसंयमी) कहा गया है

Transliteration

alolupas tathālpepsuḥ kāmānām avicintitā | samudrakalpaḥ puruṣaḥ sa dāntaḥ parikīrtitaḥ ||

Translation

Vidura dice: Aquel que está libre de codicia, que desea poco, que no se recrea en pensamientos de placeres sensoriales y que es hondo y firme como el océano—ese hombre es alabado como ‘dānta’, quien ha dominado los sentidos.

Word by Word

अलोलुपःnon-greedy, not covetous

तथाand, likewise

अल्पेप्सुःdesiring little

कामानाम्of desires/pleasures

अविचिन्तिताnot given to thinking about (them), not brooding on

समुद्रकल्पःocean-like (deep/steady)

पुरुषःman, person

सःhe, that (person)

दान्तःself-controlled, sense-restrained

परिकीर्तितःis declared/called

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

puruṣa (the self-controlled person)

samudra (ocean, as simile)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True self-mastery (dānta) is marked by freedom from greed, minimal craving, and refusal to mentally indulge in sense-pleasures; such restraint produces ocean-like depth and steadiness that supports dharmic living.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s counsel-setting, Vidura is instructing on ethical qualities. Here he defines the ‘dānta’ person—one fit for righteous decision-making amid the tensions leading toward the Kurukṣetra conflict.