Shloka 27
Udyoga Parva Adhyāya 132 — Vidura’s Counsel on Udyama, Yaśas, and Kṣātra-Dharma
लोकस्य समवज्ञातं निहीनासनवाससम् । अहोलाभकरं हीनमल्पजीवनमल्पकम्
lokasya samavajñātaṁ nihīnāsanavāsasam | aholābhakaraṁ hīnam alpajīvanam alpakam ||
लोकस्य समवज्ञातं निहीनासनवाससम् । अहोलाभकरं हीनमल्पजीवनमल्पकम् ॥
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vāyu underscores that a life marked by public contempt, degraded conditions, and paltry returns is ethically and existentially ‘small’: it neither sustains dignity nor produces enduring good. The verse functions as a warning against accepting a dishonourable, diminished mode of living as one’s settled condition.
In Udyoga Parva’s counsel-driven context, Vāyu speaks evaluatively about a certain kind of reduced existence—despised by society and materially scant—framing it as short-lived and insignificant. The statement serves as admonition and moral pressure within the broader deliberations that precede the great conflict.