Shloka 3
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 64: Arjuna’s Instruction to Sanjaya
Message to the Kuru Assembly
युधिष्ठिरं हि कौन्तेयं परं धर्ममिहास्थितम् । परां गतिमसम्प्रेत्य न त्वं जेतुमिहाहसि,कुन्तीनन्दन युधिष्ठिर यहाँ उत्तम धर्मका आश्रय लेकर रहते हैं। तुम मृत्युको प्राप्त हुए बिना उन्हें जीत लोगे, यह कदापि सम्भव नहीं है
yudhiṣṭhiraṃ hi kaunteyaṃ paraṃ dharmam ihāsthitam | parāṃ gatim asamprāpya na tvaṃ jetum ihārhasi ||
Vidura berkata: “Wahai putera Kuntī, Yudhiṣṭhira berdiri teguh di sini, berpegang pada dharma yang tertinggi. Selagi engkau sendiri belum sampai ke keadaan terakhir (kematian), engkau tidak layak mendakwa akan menewaskannya di sini—kemenangan seperti itu tidak mungkin.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral authority grounded in dharma cannot be overcome by ordinary power-politics; one who is firmly established in righteousness is not truly ‘conquered’ by external force. Vidura implies that attempting to defeat such a person is ethically and practically futile.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war counsel, Vidura admonishes the Kaurava side (addressed as ‘son of Kuntī’ in the verse’s vocative style) that Yudhiṣṭhira is steadfast in the highest dharma, and that boasting of defeating him is misguided—only with one’s own end (death) could such a claim be imagined.