Shloka 3
उद्योगपर्व — विदुरनीतिः (Adhyāya 37): आयुःक्षयहेतवः, नीतिसूत्राणि, बलभेदाः, पाण्डव-विग्रहदोषदर्शनम्
यस्योदकं मधुपर्क च गां च न मन्त्रवित् प्रतिगृह्नाति गेहे । लोभाद् भयादथ कार्पण्यतो वा तस्यानर्थ जीवितमाहुरार्या:
yasyodakaṁ madhuparkaṁ ca gāṁ ca na mantravit pratigṛhṇāti gehe | lobhād bhayād atha kārpaṇyato vā tasyānarthaṁ jīvitam āhur āryāḥ ||
Vidura berkata: Jika seorang brāhmaṇa yang berilmu, mahir dalam nasihat suci, tidak menerima di sesebuah rumah persembahan adat—air, madhuparka (campuran manis penyambut tetamu), dan seekor lembu—kerana tamak, takut, atau kedekut akibat kemiskinan, maka orang mulia menyatakan hidup tuan rumah itu sia-sia dan tanpa tujuan sejati.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Proper hospitality and the honoring of worthy guests are central to household dharma; when greed, fear, or miserly poverty prevents the appropriate exchange of honor (offering and acceptance), life in the householder’s role is judged fruitless by the noble.
In Vidura’s ethical counsel during the Udyoga Parva, he states a norm of righteous social conduct: a learned brāhmaṇa should accept the standard tokens of welcome—water, madhuparka, and a cow—when offered; refusal driven by base motives signals a breakdown of dharmic order and renders the householder’s life ‘without purpose’ in the eyes of the wise.