Shloka 50

Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship

Devanagari script

जरा रूप॑ हरति हि धैर्यमाशा मृत्यु: प्राणान्‌ धर्मचर्यामसूया । क्रोध: श्रियं शीलमनार्यसेवा हियं काम: सर्वमेवाभिमान:

Transliteration

jarā rūpaṃ harati hi dhairyam āśā mṛtyuḥ prāṇān dharmacaryām asūyā | krodhaḥ śriyaṃ śīlam anāryasevā hrīṃ kāmaḥ sarvam evābhimānaḥ ||

Translation

毗度罗教诲说：内外的衰败皆由特定之力所致——老迈夺去容色；希望一旦变为执著，便侵蚀定力；死亡带走生命之息；吹毛求疵的嫉妒败坏修持正法。愤怒毁坏富贵；侍奉并亲近卑劣之人败坏善性；欲望摧折羞耻；而傲慢足以吞噬一切。

Word by Word

• {'jarā': 'old age, senescence', 'rūpa': 'form, beauty, appearance', 'harati': 'takes away, removes, destroys', 'hi': 'indeed, surely', 'dhairya': 'steadfastness, courage, composure', 'āśā': 'hope, expectation, desire for outcomes', 'mṛtyuḥ': 'death', 'prāṇān': 'life-breaths, vital energies

• by extension life', 'dharmacaryā': 'practice/observance of dharma, righteous conduct', 'asūyā': 'envy

• fault-finding, seeing defects in others’ virtues', 'krodhaḥ': 'anger', 'śriyam': 'prosperity, fortune, splendor (Śrī)', 'śīlam': 'good character, conduct, disposition', 'anārya-sevā': 'service/association with the ignoble or base-minded', 'hrīm': 'modesty, shame, moral restraint', 'kāmaḥ': 'desire, lust', 'sarvam': 'everything, the whole of one’s good', 'eva': 'indeed, entirely', 'abhimānaḥ': 'pride, self-conceit, over-identification'}

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Certain inner forces and habits systematically destroy human excellence: aging diminishes beauty, attachment-laden hope weakens steadiness, death ends life, envy corrodes dharmic practice, anger ruins prosperity, ignoble association spoils character, lust removes modest restraint, and pride can wipe out all accumulated good. The remedy implied is vigilance, self-restraint, and choosing noble company.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations and counsel, Vidura addresses the Kuru court with moral instruction (nīti). This verse is part of his admonition, highlighting the psychological and ethical dangers that can derail righteous decision-making at a critical political moment.