Shloka 21
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय 33: धृतराष्ट्र-विदुर संवादः (विदुरनीतिः)
प्रसादो निष्फलो यस्य क्रोधश्चापि निरर्थक: । न तं भर्तारमिच्छन्ति षण्ढं पतिमिव स्त्रिय:,जिसकी प्रसन्नताका कोई फल नहीं और क्रोध भी व्यर्थ है, उसको प्रजा स्वामी बनाना नहीं चाहती--जैसे स्त्री नपुंसकको पति नहीं बनाना चाहती
prasādo niṣphalo yasya krodhaścāpi nirarthakaḥ | na taṃ bhartāram icchanti ṣaṇḍhaṃ patim iva striyaḥ ||
ヴィドゥラは言う。恩寵が何の益も生まず、怒りも何の効き目もない君主は、民に主として望まれない。女が不能の男を夫に選ばぬのと同じである。教えはこうだ――権威は実を伴わねばならぬ。賞は徳と奉仕を励まし、罰は悪を抑えるべきである。さもなくば王権は空虚となり、侮られる。
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Leadership must have effective incentives and deterrents: a ruler’s favor should produce tangible protection or reward, and his anger (punishment) should meaningfully restrain misconduct. If both are ineffective, subjects lose respect and do not accept him as their protector.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura delivers counsel on statecraft and dharma in the tense lead-up to war. Here he characterizes a weak, ineffectual lord—whose rewards and punishments do not function—as unfit to be accepted by the people.