Shloka 22
Saṃsāra-mārga-vistaraḥ
Vidura’s Expanded Account of the Path
न विक्रमो न चाप्यर्थों न मित्र न सुहृज्जन: । तथोन्मोचयते दुःखाद् यथा<55त्मा स्थिरसंयम:,पराक्रम, धन, मित्र और सुहृद् भी उस तरह दुःखसे छुटकारा नहीं दिला सकते, जैसा कि दृढ़तापूर्वक संयममें रहनेवाला अपना मन दिला सकता है
na vikramo na cāpy artho na mitra na suhṛj-janaḥ | tathonmocayate duḥkhād yathātmā sthira-saṁyamaḥ ||
Vidura teaches that neither valor nor wealth, nor even friends and well-wishers, can release a person from sorrow as effectively as one’s own self—when it is steady and disciplined through firm self-control. The ethical point is inward mastery: external supports may help, but liberation from grief depends chiefly on a restrained, stable mind.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
External aids—valor, wealth, friends, and well-wishers—are limited in removing sorrow; the most effective release from grief comes from one’s own steady self-restraint (sthira-saṁyama), i.e., a disciplined, stable mind.
In Strī Parva’s aftermath of the war, Vidura offers moral counsel to those overwhelmed by loss, emphasizing that true relief from suffering is grounded in inner mastery rather than dependence on external power or support.