विदुर उवाच
निकृतस्यापि ते पुत्रैर् हृते राज्ये धनेषु च ॥
न धर्माच् चलते बुद्धिर् धर्मराजस्य धीमतः ॥
यो ऽसौ राजा घृणी नित्यं धार्तराष्ट्रेषु भारत ॥
निकृत्या क्रोधसंतप्तो नोन्मीलयति लोचने ॥
नाहं जनं निर्दहेयं दृष्ट्वा घोरेण चक्षुषा ॥
स पिधाय मुखं राजा तस्माद् गच्छति पाण्डवः ॥
vidura uvāca
nikṛtasyāpi te putrair hṛte rājye dhaneṣu ca ||
na dharmāc calate buddhir dharmarājasya dhīmataḥ ||
yo 'sau rājā ghṛṇī nityaṃ dhārtarāṣṭreṣu bhārata ||
nikṛtyā krodhasaṃtapto nonmīlayati locane ||
nāhaṃ janaṃ nirdaheyaṃ dṛṣṭvā ghoreṇa cakṣuṣā ||
sa pidhāya mukhaṃ rājā tasmād gacchati pāṇḍavaḥ ||
[Vidura:] "Though he has been deceived by your sons, though kingdom and wealth are taken from him, the mind of the wise Dharmaraja does not depart from dharma. That king, ever compassionate toward the sons of Dhritarashtra, O Bharata, scorched with anger from the deceit, does not open his eyes, thinking: 'May I not burn up the people, seeing them with a terrible eye'; therefore, covering his face, the king, the Pandava, goes."
21e9e2cc26e1 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:17:50 PM UTC
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Yudhishthira conceals not weakness but a formidable power: the anger of the righteous is so mighty that his gaze could scorch, and he covers his face to shield the people from his own fury. Thus the highest gentleness is not the absence of power but mastery over it: the merciful one fears to harm even with a glance. It is telling that he is compassionate even toward the very wrongdoers -- "ever compassionate toward the sons of Dhritarashtra": his dharma does not waver even under deceit, nor does it turn to vengeance. The verse teaches that the greatest strength conceals itself so as not to harm the innocent; that true gentleness is not powerlessness but voluntary restraint; and that a mind established in dharma does not depart from it even when everything has been taken by deceit -- for it stands not on possessions, but on truth.