Shloka 20
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship
विरोचन उवाच आवां कुत्र गमिष्याव: प्राणयोर्विपणे कृते | नतु देवेष्वहं स्थाता न मनुष्येषु कहिचित्,विरोचनने कहा--अच्छा, प्राणोंकी बाजी लगानेके पश्चात् हम दोनों कहाँ चलेंगे? मैं तो न देवताओंके पास जा सकता हूँ और न कभी मनुष्योंसे ही निर्णण करा सकता हूँ
virocana uvāca | āvāṁ kutra gamiṣyāvaḥ prāṇayor vipaṇe kṛte | na tu deveṣv ahaṁ sthātā na manuṣyeṣu kahicit |
Sabi ni Virocana: “Kapag naitaya na natin ang buhay sa pustahang ito, saan tayo pupunta? Wala akong katayuan sa mga diyos, at sa mga tao nama’y wala rin akong matatag na mapaglalagyan.”
विरोचन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Staking one’s life or honor in a reckless wager can leave a person without refuge—socially, morally, or spiritually. The verse highlights the ethical cost of choices that sever one’s standing both among the noble (devas, as an ideal of higher order) and among ordinary society (manuṣyas).
Virocana voices anxiety after a life-staking wager has been made. He asks where the two of them can go afterward, confessing that he has no secure place either with the gods or among humans—suggesting isolation, loss of legitimacy, or fear of judgment following the high-stakes act.