Shloka 31
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship
युधन्वोवाच यां रात्रिमधिविन्ना स्त्री यां चैवाक्षपराजित: । यां च भाराभिततप्ताड़्े दुर्विवक्ता सम तां वसेत्,सुधन्वा बोला--सौतवाली स्त्री, जूएमें हारे हुए जुआरी और भार ढोनेसे व्यथित शरीरवाले मनुष्यकी रातमें जो स्थिति होती है, वही स्थिति उलटा न्याय देनेवाले वक्ताकी भी होती है
sudhanvovāca yāṁ rātrim adhivinnā strī yāṁ caivākṣaparājitaḥ | yāṁ ca bhārābhitatapto durvivaktā sama tāṁ vaset ||
Sinabi ni Sudhanvā: “Ang gabing dinaranas ng babaeng inapi at itinakwil; ang gabing dinaranas ng sugarol matapos magapi sa sugal; at ang gabing dinaranas ng lalaking ang katawan ay hapdi sa pagod dahil sa pagbubuhat ng mabibigat na pasan—ganyan ang gabing tinitiis ng nagsasalita ng di-makatarungan at nagbibigay ng baluktot na hatol.”
प्रह्माद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unjust speech—especially speech that twists judgment—creates an inner suffering comparable to humiliation, ruin, and bodily torment. The verse warns that ethical failure in advocacy or decision-making is not merely social harm but a personal moral affliction.
Sudhanvan uses three vivid analogies (a wronged woman’s anguish, a gambler’s despair after losing, and a porter’s bodily pain) to describe the mental state of a person who argues falsely or gives inverted justice, emphasizing the psychological and moral cost of adharma.