Shloka 7
Śānti-parva 168: Śoka-nivṛtti-buddhi (The Cognition that Reduces Grief) and Piṅgalā’s Nairāśya
धर्मेणैवर्षयस्तीर्णा धर्मे लोका: प्रतिष्ठिता: । धर्मेण देवा ववृधुर्धर्मे चार्थ: समाहित:
dharmeṇaiva ṛṣayas tīrṇā dharme lokāḥ pratiṣṭhitāḥ | dharmeṇa devā vavṛdhur dharme cārthaḥ samāhitaḥ ||
ヴィドゥラは宣言する。「ダルマによってのみ、聖仙たちは世有の海を渡りきった。諸世界はダルマの上にこそ据えられ、神々もまたダルマによって栄えた。そしてダルマのうちにこそ、アルタ——物質的安寧と秩序ある繁栄——もまた正しい座と安定を得るのである。」
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is presented as the universal foundation: it enables spiritual liberation (the seers crossing saṃsāra), sustains social and cosmic order (the worlds established), empowers divine flourishing (the gods prosper), and rightly governs material prosperity (artha is stable only when grounded in dharma).
In Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Vidura speaks as a moral counselor, emphasizing to the listener that righteousness is not merely personal virtue but the very support of cosmic stability and political-economic well-being.