Shloka 6

उद्योगपर्व — विदुरनीतिः (Adhyāya 37): आयुःक्षयहेतवः, नीतिसूत्राणि, बलभेदाः, पाण्डव-विग्रहदोषदर्शनम्

Devanagari script

अरोषणो य: समलोष्टाश्मकाछचन: प्रहीणशोको गतसन्धिविग्रह: । निन्दाप्रशंसोपरत: प्रियाप्रिये त्यजन्नुदासीनवदेष भिक्षुक:

Transliteration

aroṣaṇo yaḥ samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ prahīṇaśoko gatasandhivigrahaḥ | nindāpraśaṃsoparataḥ priyāpriye tyajann udāsīnavad eṣa bhikṣukaḥ ||

Translation

Vidura define o verdadeiro mendicante: aquele que está livre da ira; que considera iguais um torrão de terra, uma pedra e o ouro; que abandonou o luto; que foi além dos cálculos de aliança e conflito; que não se move por censura ou louvor; e que renuncia ao apego e à aversão, vivendo com a calma distância de uma testemunha imparcial. Só esse merece o nome de ‘bhikṣu’ (renunciante).

Word by Word

• {'aroṣaṇaḥ': 'free from anger

• non-irascible', 'yaḥ': 'who (the one who)', 'sama-': 'equal

• impartial', 'loṣṭa': 'clod of earth', 'aśman': 'stone', 'kāñcana': 'gold', 'samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ': 'one to whom clod, stone, and gold are the same', 'prahīṇaśokaḥ': 'one who has abandoned sorrow/grief', 'gata-': 'gone beyond

• departed from', 'sandhi': 'alliance

• conciliation', 'vigraha': 'hostility

• quarrel', 'gatasandhivigrahaḥ': 'one beyond the duality of making alliances and waging conflicts', 'nindā': 'blame

• censure', 'praśaṃsā': 'praise

• commendation', 'uparataḥ': 'ceased from

• withdrawn from', 'nindāpraśaṃsoparataḥ': 'one who has withdrawn from concern for blame and praise', 'priya': 'pleasant

• dear', 'apriya': 'unpleasant

• not dear', 'priyāpriye': 'the pleasant and the unpleasant', 'tyajan': 'abandoning

• renouncing', 'udāsīna-vat': 'like one indifferent

• as a detached onlooker', 'eṣa': 'this (person)', 'bhikṣukaḥ': 'mendicant

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• bhikṣuka (renunciant/mendicant)
• loṣṭa (clod)
• aśman (stone)
• kāñcana (gold)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A true renunciant is identified by inner freedom: absence of anger and grief, equal regard for worthless and valuable objects, and detachment from praise/blame and like/dislike—standing beyond social and political dualities such as alliance and conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, as tensions move toward war, Vidura offers moral counsel. Here he shifts from external labels to inner qualifications, defining the ‘bhikṣu’ by ethical and psychological steadiness rather than by mere appearance or status.