Shloka 32
उद्योगपर्व — विदुरनीतिः (Adhyāya 37): आयुःक्षयहेतवः, नीतिसूत्राणि, बलभेदाः, पाण्डव-विग्रहदोषदर्शनम्
मूर्खोंद्रारा सेवित निरर्थक कलहका बुद्धिमान् पुरुषको त्याग कर देना चाहिये। ऐसा करनेसे उसे लोकमें यश मिलता है और अनर्थका सामना नहीं करना पड़ता ।।
prasādo niṣphalo yasya krodhaś cāpi nirarthakaḥ | na taṁ bhartāram icchanti ṣaṇḍhaṁ patim iva striyaḥ ||
Vidura says: A ruler whose favour yields no real benefit, and whose anger is equally ineffectual, is not desired as a lord by his people—just as women do not wish for an impotent husband. The ethical point is that authority must be meaningful: reward should encourage virtue and service, and punishment should restrain wrongdoing; otherwise leadership becomes contemptible and socially destabilizing.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must have consequential favour and consequential punishment. If neither reward nor wrath produces results, authority loses legitimacy; people will not accept such a leader, and disorder follows.
In Udyoga Parva, Vidura offers political-ethical counsel (nīti) about kingship. Here he criticizes an ineffectual sovereign whose approval and anger are both meaningless, warning that such a ruler will be rejected by his subjects.