Shloka 18

उद्योगपर्व — विदुरनीतिः (Adhyāya 37): आयुःक्षयहेतवः, नीतिसूत्राणि, बलभेदाः, पाण्डव-विग्रहदोषदर्शनम्

Devanagari script

।। नासुद्गत्‌ परमं मन्त्र भारताहति वेदितुम्‌

Transliteration

nāsudgataḥ paramaṁ mantraṁ bhāratāhati veditum

Translation

విదురుడు చెబుతాడు—నీచ ప్రేరణలను దాటి పైకి లేని వాడు పరమ మంత్రాన్ని గ్రహించలేడు; భారత సంగ్రామంలో ఆత్మసంయమంతో శాసితమైన మనసుకే శ్రేష్ఠ ఉపదేశం అర్థమవుతుంది.

Word by Word

नnot

असूद्गत्one who has not risen/advanced (unqualified person)

परमम्supreme, highest

मन्त्रम्mantra, sacred formula/teaching

भारतO Bhārata

अहतिin/at the striking; in the act of recitation/intonation (context-dependent)

वेदितुम्to know, to understand

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

Bharata (Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Supreme counsel (parama-mantra) is grasped only by a person who has elevated and purified the mind; without self-control and moral readiness, even the best advice cannot be understood or applied, especially amid the Bharata strife.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, as war approaches, Vidura admonishes the king (addressed as ‘Bharata’) that the highest policy and dharmic guidance cannot be comprehended by one still driven by lower impulses—an indirect warning against stubbornness and adharma in the unfolding conflict.