Shloka 21
Saṃsāra-mārga-vistaraḥ
Vidura’s Expanded Account of the Path
साधु: परमदु:खानां दुःखभैषज्यमाचरेत् । ज्ञानौषधमवाप्येह दूरपारं महौषधम् | छिन्द्याद् दुः:खमहाव्याधिं नर: संयतमानस:,साधु पुरुषको चाहिये कि वह अपने मनको वशगमें करके ज्ञानरूपी महान् ओषधि प्राप्त करे, जो परम दुर्लभ है। उससे अपने बड़े-से-बड़े दुःखोंकी चिकित्सा करे। उस ज्ञानरूपी ओषधिसे दुःखरूपी महान् व्याधिका नाश कर डाले
sādhuḥ paramaduḥkhānāṃ duḥkhabhaiṣajyam ācaret | jñānauṣadham avāpyeha dūrapāraṃ mahauṣadham | chindyād duḥkhamahāvyādhiṃ naraḥ saṃyatamānasaḥ ||
Vidura says: A good person should practice the true remedy for even the deepest sorrows. Here in this world, having obtained the medicine of knowledge—an excellent cure that is hard to reach and rare—one should, with a disciplined mind, cut down the great disease of suffering itself.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sorrow is treated as a disease, and the most effective remedy is jñāna (clear understanding/wisdom). By restraining the mind and cultivating knowledge, one can cut off even great suffering at its root rather than merely soothing symptoms.
In the Strī Parva’s aftermath of the war, counsel is offered to those overwhelmed by grief. Vidura speaks in a consolatory, ethical register, urging inner discipline and wisdom as the means to endure and overcome the crushing sorrow following the Kurukṣetra devastation.