Shloka 62

Devanagari script

त्रयो न्‍्याया मनुष्याणां श्रूयन्ते भरतर्षभ । कनीयान्‌ मध्यम: श्रेष्ठ इति वेदविदो विदु:ः,भरतश्रेष्ठ! मनुष्योंकी कार्यसिद्धिके लिये उत्तम, मध्यम और अधम--ये तीन प्रकारके न्यायानुकूल उपाय सुने जाते हैं, ऐसा वेदवेत्ता विद्वान्‌ जानते हैं

Transliteration

trayo nyāyā manuṣyāṇāṃ śrūyante bharatarṣabha | kanīyān madhyamaḥ śreṣṭha iti vedavido viduḥ ||

Translation

毗度罗说：“婆罗多族之雄牛啊，传统相传，人们成就所求有三种‘途径’：下等、中等与上等。通晓吠陀者皆知此三分之说。”

Word by Word

त्रयःthree

न्यायाःmethods/means; principles (of procedure)

मनुष्याणाम्of men/of humans

श्रूयन्तेare heard/are said (to be)

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

कनीयान्inferior/lesser

मध्यमःmiddling/medium

श्रेष्ठःbest/superior

इतिthus

वेदविदःknowers of the Veda

विदुःknow

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

Bharatarṣabha (addressed person, i.e., Dhṛtarāṣṭra in context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura introduces a moral-ethical framework: human action and goal-achievement can be pursued through three graded ‘ways’—inferior, middling, and best—implying that one should choose the highest, most dharmic means rather than merely effective ones.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, Vidura is counseling the Kuru elder (addressed as ‘Bharatarṣabha’) during the tense pre-war negotiations. He begins by laying out a structured typology of approaches to success, preparing to recommend the superior course aligned with dharma.