Shloka 23
Ārjava, Satya, and the Virocana–Sudhanvan Exemplum
Udyoga-parva 35
विदुर उवाच तपो दमो ब्रह्मवित्तं विताना: पुण्या विवाहा: सततान्नदानम् | येष्वेवैते सप्त गुणा वसन्ति सम्यग्वृत्तास्तानि महाकुलानि
vidura uvāca—tapo damo brahmavittaṃ vitānāḥ puṇyā vivāhāḥ satatānna-dānam | yeṣv evaite sapta guṇā vasanti samyag-vṛttās tāni mahā-kulāni ||
विदुर म्हणाला— राजन्! ज्या कुळांत तप, इंद्रियनिग्रह, वेद-ब्रह्मविद्या, यज्ञपरंपरेचा निर्वाह, पवित्र विवाह, सतत अन्नदान आणि सम्यक् सदाचार—हे सात गुण वास करतात, तीच कुळे ‘महाकुळ’ होत.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Nobility of birth is validated by lived virtues: discipline, self-restraint, Vedic/Brahman-knowledge, sustaining sacred rites, pure marriage practices, continual food-charity, and upright conduct. A ‘great family’ is defined ethically, not merely by ancestry.
In Vidura’s counsel to the king during the Udyoga Parva’s tense pre-war deliberations, he sets a moral standard for what counts as true high lineage, redirecting attention from pride of birth to dharmic behavior and public-minded virtue.