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विदुलापुत्रशासन (vidulAputrazAsana)

 
Mahabharata
English
Vidulāputraśāsana(ṃ) (“Vidulā's instruction of her son”). § 10 (Parvas.): I, 2, 333.--§ 568 (Bhagavady.): The princess Vidulā one day rebuked her son Sañjaya, who, being defeated by the king of the Sindhus, was lying dejected. “Without wrath, as thou art, thou canst not be counted as a man…It is better to blaze up for a moment than to smoke for a long time…He who has not achieved a great feat, forming the subject of men's conversation, only increases the number of men
he is neither man nor woman …It behoves thee not to adopt the idle, wretched, infamous, and miserable profession of mendicancy that is worthy only of a coward…He is a man who cherishes wrath and does not forgive…(V, 133)…The followers of the Sindhu-king are all discontented and waiting for the distress of their master
others will come to thee with their auxiliaries if they behold thee put forth thy prowess… While thou wert a child, a brahman said: ‘this one, falling into great distress, will again win greatness.’ Śambara has said ‘there is not a more miserable state than that in which one does not see how to procure his food from day to day’. By slaying Vṛtra, Indra became Mahendra (“the great Indra”), and obtained the soṃa-cup of Mahendra (v. 4562, B.: Māhendraṃ ca grahaṃ lebhe), and the lordship of all the worlds…Sovereignty is either the door of heaven or amṛta… In the possession of wealth, rejoice, as before, with the Sauvīra-maidens, and be not ruled over by the Saindhava-maidens…Handed down by tradition from time immemorial, the eternal essence of kshatriya-virtues (kshatrahṛdayaṃ) has been ordained by Prajāpati himself… A kshatriya should rather break than yield. He should bow down to brahmans only and to virtue (dharmāya)
he should rule over all other orders, destroying all evil-doers” (V. 134). The son complained that the heart of his mother was made of steel, and blamed the kshatriya-practices. Vidulā said that if Sañjaya was about to be stained by infamy and she did not say it to him, her affection for him would be like that of a she-ass for her young. He ought to have recourse to virtue and profit (V, 135)…“We have many treasure-houses unknown to thee…thou hast also more than one friend.” Despair left Sañjaya's heart, though he was not gifted with great intelligence. He roused himself and achieved all that his mother had pointed out. Indeed, this history, named Jaya, should be listened to by everyone desirous of victory, etc. (V, 136).