Vidura: Epic Characters of Mahabharatha

By Sri Hari

Vidura was Ambika's maid's son and an incarnation of Yamadharmaraya. He was born along with Pandu and Dhritarashtra.He was unequalled in righteousness and an expert in ethics. In fact, even Bhisma used to consult him on various matters. Vidura married Parasavi, King Devaka'a daughter. His guidance to Kunti and the Pandavas was invaluable. He helped the Pandavas to escape from the burning lac palace. Vidura gave very valuable advice to the Kauravas too but they did not take it the way the Pandavas did. Accordingly, he dissuaded Dhritharashtra from organizing the game of dice as he saw the beginning of disaster in that move. Even half way through the game, he begged the king to stop it . His words of wisdom to Duryodhana and Dushasana also fell on deaf ears. He warned Dushasana that he was putting the hangman's noose round his neck when he dragged Draupadi into the hall. When the Pandavas set off to the forest, Vidura instilled confidence into them. He again advised Dhritarashtra to give half the kingdom to the Pandavas on their return from the forest but the king remained unfazed; he left everything to fate. After the great war, when Dharmaraja became king, it was Vidura who became his advisor. After serving the young king, he went to the forest and became a mendicant. In the end, as he and Dharmaraja were both children of Yamadharmaraya, he became one with Dharmaraja. His last rites were not performed as he had been leading a sanyasi's life. Thus he went to the heavenly abode known as santhanika.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana
• Release date: May 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9788194018599

Book preview

EPIC CHARACTERS OF MAHABHARATHA

Vidura

Written by

SriHari

Translated by

Prof. G. S. Mudambadithaya

© Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana, Bengaluru. All rights reserved.

Published by:

Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana

C/o. Bharatha Darshana,

163, Manjunatha Road, 2nd Block,

Thyagarajanagar, Bangalure 560 028,

Ph: [phone], [phone]

bharathasamskruthi.com

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FOREWORD

Sri Srirangasadgurave Namah

Sri Vedavyasa’s immortal work, the Mahabharata, is our national epic reflecting like a golden mirror, the internal and external forms of the character and culture prevailing in the land of Bharata from times immemorial. It is hailed as the fifth Veda as it portrays the battle between the demoniac and the divine forces ending in the triumph of the latter, and announces to the whole world the universal truths of life. At places it orders with the tone and tenor of a paramount monarch. At some other places it teaches through stories and episodes and examples like a bosom friend and in some other places it brings home truths in the manner of a sweetheart. It is therefore a Sruti and Smriti and an Itihasa and a Purana and a Kavya, all embodied in one single work. It is an inexhaustible sourcebook for various literary works in Samskrit and local languages. On account of its extraordinary size of 18 parvas and the weightiness of its contents, it is appropriatly called the Mahabharata. Regarding the exhaustive teaching of the fourfold goals of life recommended by the founders of our culture, it has been rightly announced about this book as follows:

Whatever is found here is found elsewhere and what is not found here is found nowhere else.

We bless the efforts of Bharatha Samskrithi Prakashana to acquaint young minds with the prime characters of the above extraordinary work through these little vibrant volumes. It has derived inspiration from the 32 volumes of the Kannada version of the Mahabharata published by Bharatha Darshana, a premier publishing house, solely dedicated for the cause of the Bharathiya culture. The language of these booklets is very simple and lucid, so as to enter the hearts of the young minds and lead them on to the reading of the original. We hope that the younger generation will be able to analyse and judge these characters in the right perspective, elevate themselves and become good citizens of our nation.

We come across a large number of elderly people also who do not have a correct knowledge of the characters of the great epic. We hope that these little life-sketches based