Shloka 11
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 40 — Vidura’s Ethical Counsel and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Fatalistic Turn
य॑ श्रुत्वायं मनुष्येन्द्र: सर्वदुःखातिगो भवेत् | लाभालाभौ प्रियद्वेष्यौ यथैनं न जरान्तकौ
yaḥ śrutvāyaṃ manuṣyendraḥ sarvaduḥkhātigo bhavet | lābhālābhau priyadveṣyau yathainaṃ na jarāntakau ||
वैशम्पायन उवाच—एतत् श्रुत्वा मनुष्येन्द्रः सर्वदुःखातिगो भवेत्। लाभालाभौ प्रियद्वेष्यौ नैनं बाधेते यथैव जरा-मृत्यू तत्त्वनिष्ठम्॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises inner steadiness: one who truly assimilates the teaching becomes free from being shaken by opposites—gain/loss and pleasant/unpleasant—thus transcending sorrow through equanimity and self-mastery.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, concludes a point by stating the transformative effect of the instruction just given: hearing and internalizing it makes even a ruler rise above grief, no longer dominated by worldly fluctuations.