Shloka 49
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship
तृणोल्कया ज्ञायते जातरूप॑ं वृत्तेन भद्रो व्यवहारेण साधु: । शूरो भयेष्वर्थकृच्छेषु धीर: कृच्छेष्वापत्सु सुहृदश्चारयश्च
tṛṇolkayā jñāyate jātarūpaṁ vṛttena bhadro vyavahāreṇa sādhuḥ | śūro bhayeṣv arthakṛcchreṣu dhīraḥ kṛcchreṣv āpatsu suhṛdaś ca arayaś ca ||
विदुर म्हणतात—अग्नीत तपवल्यावर सुवर्णाची ओळख पटते; आचरणावरून सज्जनाची, व्यवहारावरून श्रेष्ठ पुरुषाची. भय आले की शूराची परीक्षा होते, अर्थकष्टात धीराची; आणि घोर आपत्तीत कोण खरा मित्र व कोण शत्रू हे उघड होते.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Virtue and reliability are not proved by words but by tests: conduct shows goodness, dealings show nobility, danger shows courage, poverty shows steadiness, and calamity reveals true friends and enemies.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura is giving moral and political counsel during the tense pre-war negotiations; here he uses vivid comparisons to warn that people’s real nature becomes clear only when circumstances become difficult.