Shloka 14

Udyoga Parva Adhyaya 62 — Duryodhana’s Claim of Victory and Vidura’s Allegories on Discord and Risk

Devanagari script

क्षमा धृतिरहिंसा च समता सत्यमार्जवम्‌ | इन्द्रियाभिजयो धैर्य मार्दवं हवीरचापलम्‌

Transliteration

kṣamā dhṛtir ahiṃsā ca samatā satyam ārjavam | indriyābhijayo dhairyaṃ mārdavaṃ hrīr acāpalam, rājendra |

Translation

Vidura nói: “Hỡi bậc vương giả tối thượng, người nào có vững bền các đức này—nhẫn nhục, kiên định, bất bạo động, tâm bình đẳng, chân thật, ngay thẳng, chế ngự các căn, dũng khí, nhu hòa, biết hổ thẹn và không bồng bột—người ấy được xem là dānta, kẻ đã thắng được các giác quan.”

Word by Word

• {'kṣamā': 'forbearance

• the capacity to endure injury without retaliation', 'dhṛtiḥ': 'steadfastness

• sustaining resolve', 'ahiṃsā': 'non-violence

• non-injury in thought, word, and deed', 'samatā': 'equanimity

• even-mindedness toward pleasure and pain, friend and foe', 'satyam': 'truth

• alignment of speech with reality and dharma', 'ārjavam': 'straightforwardness

• absence of crookedness or deceit', 'indriyābhijayaḥ': 'conquest/mastery of the senses

• restraint over impulses', 'dhairyam': 'courage

• calm endurance under pressure', 'mārdavam': 'gentleness

• non-harshness', 'hrīḥ': 'modesty

• conscientious restraint', 'acāpalam': 'absence of fickleness

• not being restless or impulsive', 'rājendra': 'O lord of kings

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• rājendra (the king addressed, i.e., Dhṛtarāṣṭra in context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True self-mastery (dānta/indriya-jayin) is recognized not by power or status but by a stable set of virtues—patience, firmness, non-violence, equanimity, truth, straightforwardness, sense-control, courage, gentleness, modesty, and steadiness—forming the ethical basis for righteous action.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, as war looms, Vidura counsels the king on dharma and governance. This verse is part of his moral instruction, defining the character traits that qualify a person—especially a ruler or advisor—as genuinely disciplined and fit for right judgment.