Shloka 53
Ārjava, Satya, and the Virocana–Sudhanvan Exemplum
Udyoga-parva 35
अनश्रिता दानपुण्यं वेदपुण्यमनाश्रिता: । रागद्वेषविनिर्मुक्ता विचरन्तीह मोक्षिण:,मोक्षकी इच्छा रखनेवाले मनुष्य दानके पुण्यका आश्रय नहीं लेते, वेदके पुण्यका भी आश्रय नहीं लेते; किंतु निष्कामभावसे राग-द्वेषसे रहित हो इस लोकमें विचरते रहते हैं
anaśritā dānapuṇyaṃ vedapuṇyam anāśritāḥ | rāgadveṣavinirmuktā vicarantīha mokṣiṇaḥ ||
Видура говорит: те, кто поистине ищет освобождения, не опираются на заслугу милостыни и не зависят от заслуги, добытой ведическими обрядами. Свободные от привязанности и отвращения, они идут по этому миру с безжеланным, не связанным умом, не делая награду основанием своего поведения.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation-oriented living is marked by inner freedom: one does not act for the sake of accumulating merit (puṇya) through charity or ritual, but lives without attachment and aversion, letting actions be unclaimed by desire for reward.
In Vidura’s counsel during the Udyoga Parva, he articulates a higher ethical-spiritual standpoint: amid political tension and impending conflict, he points to the ideal of the mokṣa-seeker—one who remains inwardly detached and unentangled in reward-seeking religiosity.