Shloka 10

हंस–साध्यसंवादः, वाक्-निग्रहः, महाकुल-लक्षणम्, शान्ति-उपायः

Hamsa–Sādhya Dialogue; Restraint of Speech; Marks of Noble Lineage; Means to Peace

Devanagari script

विदुर उवाच अतिमानो5तिवादश्न तथात्यागो नराधिप । क्रोधश्चात्मविधित्सा च मित्रद्रोहश्च॒ तानि घट्‌

Transliteration

vidura uvāca | atimāno ’tivādaś ca tathātyāgo narādhipa | krodhaś cātmavidhitsā ca mitradrohaś ca tāni ṣaṭ |

Translation

விதுரன் கூறினான்—அரசே! அளவுக்கு மீறிய அகந்தை, அளவுக்கு மீறிய பேச்சு, துறக்க வேண்டியதைத் துறக்காத தன்மை, கோபம், எப்படியாயினும் தன் வாழ்வாதாரத்தை மட்டும் காக்கும் பதற்றம், மற்றும் நண்பர் துரோகம்—இவை ஆறு (குற்றங்கள்)।

Word by Word

• {'vidura uvāca': 'Vidura said', 'atimāna': 'overweening pride, arrogance', 'ativāda': 'excessive speech

• talking too much/too harshly', 'tathā': 'and likewise', 'atyāga': 'non-renunciation

• miserliness/withholding', 'narādhipa': 'O ruler of men

• king', 'krodha': 'anger', 'ātma-vidhitsā': 'self-serving anxiety/intent to secure oneself

• concern for one’s own maintenance at the expense of dharma', 'mitra-droha': 'treachery toward a friend

• betrayal of allies', 'tāni': 'those', 'ṣaṭ': 'six'}

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• narādhipa (the king, i.e., Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura teaches that inner vices—arrogance, uncontrolled speech, refusal to renounce, anger, selfish self-preservation, and betrayal of friends—destroy a person’s life and welfare more surely than external fate; ethical self-mastery is the real protection.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, Vidura counsels the blind king (Dhṛtarāṣṭra) with moral instruction (nīti), warning him that certain destructive traits within a ruler and his circle lead to ruin, especially in the tense lead-up to war.