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 ||
जो सर्वांचे कल्याण इच्छितो, कोणाच्याही अकल्याणाकडे मनही वळू देत नाही; जो सत्यवादी, मृदू आणि जितेन्द्रिय आहे—तोच उत्तम पुरुष होय.
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.