Shloka 3
अध्याय ३९: विदुरेण धृतराष्ट्राय नीत्युपदेशः
Timely Counsel, Association, and Kin-Duty
अनृते च समुत्कर्षो राजगामि च पैशुनम् । गुरोश्वनालीकनिर्बन्ध: समानि ब्रह्महत्यया
anṛte ca samutkarṣo rājagāmi ca paiśunam | guroś cānālīka-nirbandhaḥ samāni brahmahatyayā ||
Ipinahayag ni Vidura na may ilang paglabag sa asal na kasingbigat ng kasalanang pagpatay sa isang brāhmaṇa: ang pag-angat ng sarili sa pamamagitan ng kasinungalingan, ang paninirang-puri na umaabot hanggang sa pandinig ng hari, at ang matigas na pagpupumilit sa di-katotohanan kahit sa mga bagay na may kinalaman sa sariling guro.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura teaches that speech-based wrongs—boasting founded on lies, malicious slander that influences royal judgment, and stubbornly clinging to an untruth (even in relation to one’s teacher)—can be as spiritually and socially ruinous as the gravest sin, brahmahatyā. Truthful, restrained speech is presented as essential to dharma.
In Udyoga Parva’s counsel-setting, Vidura is instructing and admonishing about conduct before the great conflict. He highlights how courtly environments amplify the harm of rumor and falsehood—especially when words reach the king—and he underscores the sanctity of truthful dealings with one’s guru.