Shloka 16
Ārjava, Satya, and the Virocana–Sudhanvan Exemplum
Udyoga-parva 35
भावमिच्छति सर्वस्य नाभावे कुरुते मन: । सत्यवादी मृदुर्दान्तो यः स उत्तमपूरुष:
bhāvam icchati sarvasya nābhāve kurute manaḥ | satyavādī mṛdur dānto yaḥ sa uttamapūruṣaḥ ||
ハンサは言う。すべての者の安寧を願い、他者の害を思う方向へ心を一瞬たりとも向けず、言葉に真実があり、ふるまいは柔らかく、自己を制する者—その人こそ「最上の人」と呼ばれる。
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the ‘uttama-pūruṣa’ as one whose inner intention is universal welfare, whose mind does not incline toward harming others, and whose character is marked by truthfulness, gentleness, and disciplined self-control.
In Udyoga Parva, as negotiations and preparations around the great war intensify, a didactic voice (Hamsa) articulates a moral criterion for true nobility—shifting attention from power and strategy to inner disposition and ethical restraint.