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Vidura Niti

Vidura Niti — counsel of Vidura to Dhritarashtra from Mahabharata Udyoga Parva (~560 verses). The wisest man in the epic speaks truth to power knowing he will not be heard. Ch1 Pandit Lakshana: 'krodhaṃ na gacchati āpannaḥ...priyaṃ na vadate mṛṣā...anṛtena arthaṃ nādadāte' — three marks of the wise (no anger under affliction, no flattery, no dishonest gain); mudha defined by bhayāt na ārabhate (fear-paralysis), alpaphalāni na karoti (impatience with small results), aśraddhyā ālasaḥ (faithless inertia); 'anāgataṃ yaḥ kurute sa paṇḍitaḥ' — prepare for what has not yet come. Ch2 Niti Vakya: 'na brūyāt satyam apriyam...priyaṃ ca nānṛtam' — eternal speech dharma; six gates of ruin — ālasya, tandrā, bhaya, krodha, āśā, dīrghasūtratā; strategic silence — 'kṛtamevāsya jānanti' — pandit known only by completed action. Ch3 Dharmarajya: 'apriya-pathya' — rare are speakers and listeners of unpleasant-but-beneficial truth; 'dharmo rakṣati rakṣitaḥ...dharmo hato hanti' — dharma protected protects; dharma violated destroys.

Attributed to Vyasa