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Vidura

Just don’t suppress a Vidura in you!

Vidura was half-brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu and son of Ved Vyas. He was intelligent, master of jurisprudence,  skilled policy maker and arthashastragya (knower of the essentials of all the systems of governance). His work is popular as Vidura Neeti--The tried and trusted way of the wise. Vidura held the reins of the Kuru kingdom,  as Dhritarashtra was blind, till Duryodhan grew up to take up the responsibility.  After Duryodhan was anointed king, Vidura became a councillor and minister of the kingdom. Krishna and Bheeshma spoke very high of him when it was time to choose  the king to the throne. Vidura was the only person in the Kaurav court who rebuked and ridiculed Duryodhan for humiliating Draupadi. There is an interesting story about his birth. Satyavati, who was the step mother of Bheeshma, had a son from King Shantanu, named Vichitravirya. He died of tuberculosis leaving behind his wives Ambika and Ambalika without a son. This worried Satyavati, who, as per the laws of the times, asked Bheeshma to beget a Kuru king from them. But Bheeshma firmly denied it and offered her to go for niyog ( a lawful tradition of the time to get a child from another man). At this, she disclosed a secret to Bheeshma that Ved Vyas too was her son from Rishi Parashar. She said if Bheeshma had no objections, she could request him for the same. Bheeshma agreed to it and Ved Vyas was called. Vyasji asked his mother to mentally and physically prepare the two queens for the purpose for a year and prescribed an exercise for them. He said the time and exercise were required as he was right now in an aggressive penance and that they might wilt under his thunderous power. But, Satyavati insisted and reminded him of the emergency of having a heir to the throne immediately. Vyas agreed. But, Ambika out of fear closed her eyes and later gave birth to blind Dhritarashtra. Ambalika turned pale and gave birth to Pandu. Satyavati insisted upon Ambika to get ready for another session to have a perfect son. But, Ambika sent her maid servant (Shudra) for the purpose. She remained normal and gave birth to Vidur, who was aptly described by a Sanskrit shloka धर्मे चार्थे च कुशलो लोभक्रोधविवर्जित: ।दीर्घदर्शी शमपर: कुरुणाम् च हिते रत:।।It means Vidura is an expert in jurisprudence and the art of governance. He is without greed and anger. He is far-sighted, peace-oriented and is always engaged in the welfare of the Kurus.

Real import:  Vidura  in Sanskrit can be best described as यस्य विधानम् उरे सर्वदा गुंजितम् यो विदुर: ( The one whose principled voice mildly echoes always in the heart is called Vidura).  In a nutshell, Vidura is the synonym of antahkaran ( there is no parallel word in English for this. However, the voice of conscience can convey the meaning). Why he was born of Shudra ( a female of small recognition)? There is a long story which involves Rishi Mandavya's curse to Yamraj ( The lord of punishment and discipline, also called Dharmaraj ). However, the essence of the story is that the voice of conscience wouldn't heard louder in the world. This is what exactly happened with Vidura. He time and again suggested Duryodhan to avoid war with the Pandavas by giving them their due share in the kingdom. He even warned of total annihilation of the Kauravas if Duryodhan stuck to his unprincipled stand. But, Vidura was not heard. He spoke in support of defenceless Draupadi and even cursed Duryodhan for his atrocities on the Pandavas and Draupadi in particular. But, his warnings were ignored. 
What does it all mean? When you are under the spell of Duryodhan (lust and anger), you don't listen to the voice of conscience.
 
Example: A girl found an iPhone 7 in a hotel. She picked it up and looked around. Pressed the home button and found that it was not locked. Her lust to possess the phone didn't allow her to listen to the voice of conscience. She once heard it say ‘it was wrong and return it to the owner’ but she ignored it as just her fear. As she was about to switch it off and keep it in her bag, a waitress saw her. The girl moved out of the hotel. The waitress still watched her and noted down her vehicle number. The next day the police and the real owner of the phone reached her home. Her entire family felt humiliated. The girl too thought had she listened to the voice of Vidura, she and her family would have been saved from embarrassment. But corrupt politicians have developed a habit (Karna) of suppressing the Vidura in them. Result: They develop various body and mind ailments and grow weak day by day. A day comes when they face their Vidura outside in the form of public ire. 
 
Takeaway: Always listen to the Vidura in you if you want to succeed in life. 
 
Next : Who is Sanjay ?
 
Vivek Sharma

 

 

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