Shloka 11

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

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

Devanagari script

एत एवासयस्तीक्ष्णा कृन्तन्त्यायूंषि देहिनाम्‌ एतानि मानवान्‌ घ्नन्ति न मृत्युर्भद्रमस्तु ते

Transliteration

eta evāsayās tīkṣṇāḥ kṛntanty āyūṃṣi dehinām | etāni mānavān ghnanti na mṛtyur bhadram astu te ||

Translation

毗度罗说道：“大王，愿你安好。正是这些锋利的‘刀刃’——内心的恶习——削断有身者的寿命。真正斩杀人类的，是它们，而非死亡本身。”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'etaḥ', 'definition': 'these'}, {'term': 'eva', 'definition': 'indeed

• precisely'}, {'term': 'āsayāḥ (āśayāḥ)', 'definition': 'dispositions, inner tendencies

• here: harmful vices (as ‘blades’)'}, {'term': 'tīkṣṇāḥ', 'definition': 'sharp, keen'}, {'term': 'kṛntanti', 'definition': 'they cut, sever'}, {'term': 'āyūṃṣi', 'definition': 'lifespans, vital years'}, {'term': 'dehinām', 'definition': 'of embodied beings'}, {'term': 'etāni', 'definition': 'these (same)'}, {'term': 'mānavān', 'definition': 'human beings'}, {'term': 'ghnanti', 'definition': 'they kill, destroy'}, {'term': 'na', 'definition': 'not'}, {'term': 'mṛtyuḥ', 'definition': 'Death (personified)'}, {'term': 'bhadram astu te', 'definition': 'may good be yours

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• King (Dhritarashtra implied)
• Death (Mṛtyu, personified)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura teaches that moral and psychological vices are more destructive than external fate: they ‘cut’ one’s life-force and ruin a person from within, so self-mastery and ethical restraint are the true safeguards.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva, Vidura counsels the Kuru king (implicitly Dhṛtarāṣṭra) during the tense pre-war negotiations, warning that inner faults—not an inevitable ‘Death’—bring downfall to individuals and kingdoms.