Shloka 16
Adhyāya 59: Vidura’s Admonition to Duryodhana after the Summons of Draupadī (सभा पर्व)
अकृतान्त्र कृतास्त्रश्न दुर्बलं बलवत्तर: । एवं कर्मसु सर्वेषु निकृत्यैव युधिष्ठिर । विद्वानविदुषो5भ्येति नाहुस्तां निकृतिं जना:
akṛtāntro kṛtāstraś ca durbalaṁ balavattaraḥ | evaṁ karmasu sarveṣu nikṛtyaiva yudhiṣṭhira | vidvān aviduṣo ’bhyeti nāhus tāṁ nikṛtiṁ janāḥ ||
強き者は、ただ策謀によって弱き者を屈せしめる——武芸に未熟な戦士が、兵器の達人を欺きで打ち負かそうとするように。かくのごとく、あらゆる営みにおいて、学ある者はしばしば無学の者に策をもって勝つ。されど人々はそれを「欺き」とは呼ばぬ、ユディシュティラよ。
युधिषछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral ambiguity: society often normalizes ‘strategic’ advantage when the learned or powerful outmaneuver the unlearned, even if the method resembles deceit. It invites reflection on when cleverness becomes unethical trickery and how public opinion can excuse it.
In the Sabha Parva’s courtly context—where policy, rivalry, and manipulation are central—Yudhiṣṭhira voices a pointed observation about how victories are frequently achieved: not only by strength or skill, but by stratagem, which people may refuse to label as deceit when it benefits the ‘superior’ party.