Shloka 9

Sanatsujāta–Dhṛtarāṣṭra Saṃvāda: Brahmacarya and the Formless Brahman

Udyoga Parva 44

Devanagari script

मदो5ष्टादशदोष: स स्यात्‌ पुरा यो<प्रकीर्तित: । लोवदेष्यं प्रातिकूल्यमभ्यसूया मृषा वच:,मदके अठारह दोष हैं, जो पहले सूचित करके भी स्पष्टरूपसे नहीं बताये गये थे-- लोकविरोधी कार्य करना, शास्त्रके प्रतिकूल आचरण करना, गुणियोंपर दोषारोपण, असत्यभाषण

Transliteration

madaḥ aṣṭādaśa-doṣaḥ sa syāt purā yo ’prakīrtitaḥ | lokadveṣyaṁ prātikūlyam abhyasūyā mṛṣā vacaḥ ||

Translation

മദം (അഹങ്കാരമത്തം) അഷ്ടാദശ ദോഷങ്ങളായി പ്രകടമാകുന്നു—മുമ്പ് സൂചിപ്പിച്ചെങ്കിലും വ്യക്തമായി എണ്ണിപ്പറയാത്തവ; ഉദാഹരണമായി—ലോകവിരോധിയായ പ്രവൃത്തി, ശാസ്ത്രവിരുദ്ധമായ ആചരണം, ഗുണികളോടുള്ള ദോഷാരോപണം, അസത്യവചനം.

Word by Word

• {'madaḥ': 'pride, arrogance

• also intoxication that clouds discernment', 'aṣṭādaśa-doṣaḥ': 'eighteen faults/vices (a traditional enumerative set)', 'sa syāt': 'it becomes/it is (said to be)', 'purā': 'formerly, earlier

• in prior teaching', 'yo ’prakīrtitaḥ': 'which was not fully proclaimed/explicitly stated', 'lokadveṣyam': 'that which is hated by people

• socially reprehensible conduct', 'prātikūlyam': 'opposition, contrariness

• acting against what is proper', 'abhyasūyā': 'envy, malicious fault-finding, disparagement (especially of the good)', 'mṛṣā': 'false, untrue', 'vacaḥ': 'speech, utterance'}

Speaker

सनत्युजात उवाच

Characters & Entities

• सनत्सुजात (Sanatsujāta)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Pride (mada) is not merely a feeling but a generator of ethical collapse: it leads to socially condemned actions, disregard of śāstra, envious disparagement of the virtuous, and false speech—each of which undermines dharma and right judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s counsel-setting, Sanatsujāta instructs the listener on inner vices that obstruct wise decision-making. Here he highlights specific manifestations of mada, warning that these traits propel one toward adharma amid the tense pre-war deliberations.