Shloka 26

Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 123 — Bhīṣma–Droṇa–Vidura Upadeśa to Duryodhana

Keśava-vākya aftermath

Devanagari script

सतां मतमतिक्रम्य योअ्सतां वर्तते मते । शोचन्ते व्यसने तस्य सुहदो नचिरादिव

Transliteration

satāṁ matam atikramya yo 'satāṁ vartate mate | śocante vyasane tasya suhṛdo na cirād iva ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : Celui qui foule aux pieds l’avis des vertueux et suit plutôt l’opinion des non-vertueux—quand le malheur s’abat sur lui, ses bienveillants s’affligent bientôt, comme si l’infortune était la leur.

Word by Word

सताम्of the good (virtuous people)

मतम्opinion, view

अतिक्रम्यhaving transgressed, having overstepped

यःwho

असताम्of the wicked (non-virtuous people)

वर्ततेacts, behaves, follows

मतेin the opinion/view (i.e., according to the view)

शोचन्तेgrieve, lament

व्यसनेin misfortune, in calamity

तस्यof him

सुहृदःfriends, well-wishers

नnot

चिरात्after a long time; long

इवas if, like

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

suhṛdaḥ (well-wishers/friends)

satāṁ (the virtuous)

asatāṁ (the unvirtuous)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Disregarding the guidance of the virtuous and choosing the counsel of the unvirtuous leads to ruin; such a fall does not harm only the wrongdoer—his true friends and well-wishers also suffer grief quickly, showing the social and moral ripple-effect of adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana delivers a reflective, ethical observation within the Udyoga Parva’s atmosphere of counsel and decision-making before war: choices about whose advice to follow determine outcomes, and when a person follows bad counsel, impending disaster causes sorrow even to those who care for him.