Shloka 11

Devanagari script

एत एवासयस्तीक्ष्णा कृन्तन्त्यायूंषि देहिनाम्‌ एतानि मानवान्‌ घ्नन्ति न मृत्युर्भद्रमस्तु ते,विदुरजी बोले--राजन्‌! आपका कल्याण हो। अत्यन्त अभिमान, अधिक बोलना, त्यागका अभाव, क्रोध, अपना ही पेट पालनेकी चिन्ता और मित्रद्रोह--ये छः: तीखी तलवारें देहधारियोंकी आयुको काटती हैं। ये ही मनुष्योंका वध करती हैं, मृत्यु नहीं

Transliteration

eta evāsayās tīkṣṇāḥ kṛntanty āyūṃṣi dehinām | etāni mānavān ghnanti na mṛtyur bhadram astu te ||

Translation

Vidura disse: “Ó rei, que estejas bem. Estas mesmas ‘lâminas’ afiadas — os vícios interiores — cortam a vida dos seres encarnados. São elas que verdadeiramente matam os homens, não a própria Morte.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'etaḥ', 'definition': 'these'}, {'term': 'eva', 'definition': 'indeed

• precisely'}, {'term': 'āsayāḥ (āśayāḥ)', 'definition': 'dispositions, inner tendencies

• here: harmful vices (as ‘blades’)'}, {'term': 'tīkṣṇāḥ', 'definition': 'sharp, keen'}, {'term': 'kṛntanti', 'definition': 'they cut, sever'}, {'term': 'āyūṃṣi', 'definition': 'lifespans, vital years'}, {'term': 'dehinām', 'definition': 'of embodied beings'}, {'term': 'etāni', 'definition': 'these (same)'}, {'term': 'mānavān', 'definition': 'human beings'}, {'term': 'ghnanti', 'definition': 'they kill, destroy'}, {'term': 'na', 'definition': 'not'}, {'term': 'mṛtyuḥ', 'definition': 'Death (personified)'}, {'term': 'bhadram astu te', 'definition': 'may good be yours

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• King (Dhritarashtra implied)
• Death (Mṛtyu, personified)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura teaches that moral and psychological vices are more destructive than external fate: they ‘cut’ one’s life-force and ruin a person from within, so self-mastery and ethical restraint are the true safeguards.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva, Vidura counsels the Kuru king (implicitly Dhṛtarāṣṭra) during the tense pre-war negotiations, warning that inner faults—not an inevitable ‘Death’—bring downfall to individuals and kingdoms.