Shloka 10

हंस–साध्यसंवादः, वाक्-निग्रहः, महाकुल-लक्षणम्, शान्ति-उपायः

Hamsa–Sādhya Dialogue; Restraint of Speech; Marks of Noble Lineage; Means to Peace

Devanagari script

विदुर उवाच अतिमानो5तिवादश्न तथात्यागो नराधिप । क्रोधश्चात्मविधित्सा च मित्रद्रोहश्च॒ तानि घट्‌

Transliteration

vidura uvāca | atimāno ’tivādaś ca tathātyāgo narādhipa | krodhaś cātmavidhitsā ca mitradrohaś ca tāni ṣaṭ |

Translation

毗度罗说道：“大王，愿你安泰。过度的傲慢、过度的多言、不肯舍弃当舍之物、愤怒、为一己生计不择手段的焦灼执念，以及背叛朋友——此六者如锋利之剑，斩断有身者的寿命。真正杀人的，是这些，而非死亡本身。”

Word by Word

• {'vidura uvāca': 'Vidura said', 'atimāna': 'overweening pride, arrogance', 'ativāda': 'excessive speech

• talking too much/too harshly', 'tathā': 'and likewise', 'atyāga': 'non-renunciation

• miserliness/withholding', 'narādhipa': 'O ruler of men

• king', 'krodha': 'anger', 'ātma-vidhitsā': 'self-serving anxiety/intent to secure oneself

• concern for one’s own maintenance at the expense of dharma', 'mitra-droha': 'treachery toward a friend

• betrayal of allies', 'tāni': 'those', 'ṣaṭ': 'six'}

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• narādhipa (the king, i.e., Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura teaches that inner vices—arrogance, uncontrolled speech, refusal to renounce, anger, selfish self-preservation, and betrayal of friends—destroy a person’s life and welfare more surely than external fate; ethical self-mastery is the real protection.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, Vidura counsels the blind king (Dhṛtarāṣṭra) with moral instruction (nīti), warning him that certain destructive traits within a ruler and his circle lead to ruin, especially in the tense lead-up to war.