Shloka 41
Udyoga Parva Adhyāya 132 — Vidura’s Counsel on Udyama, Yaśas, and Kṣātra-Dharma
भृत्यैर्विहीयमानानां परपिण्डोपजीविनाम् । कृपणानामसत्त्वानां मा वृत्तिमनुवर्तिथा:,संजय! भृत्यहीन, दूसरोंके अन्नपर जीनेवाले, दीन-दुर्बल मनुष्योंकी वृत्तिका अनुसरण न कर
bhṛtyair vihīyamānānāṃ parapīṇḍopajīvinām | kṛpaṇānām asattvānāṃ mā vṛttim anuvartithāḥ, saṃjaya |
O Saṃjaya, huwag mong tularan ang asal ng mga abang, walang-lakas-loob na taong iniwan ng kanilang mga nasasakupan at nabubuhay sa tinapay ng iba. Huwag mong yakapin ang kabuhayan o pag-iisip ng mahihina na nabubuhay sa alipin at umaasa; manatili ka sa landas na marangal at may paggalang sa sarili.
पुत्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns against adopting a life of servile dependence—living on others’ support and losing one’s inner strength. Ethically, it upholds self-respect, steadiness of character (vṛtti), and the refusal to sink into cowardice or opportunism.
In Udyoga Parva’s pre-war counsel and negotiations, a ‘son’ addresses Saṃjaya directly, urging him not to follow the example of degraded, dependent men. The line functions as moral exhortation within the tense lead-up to the Kurukṣetra conflict.