Wise Vs Fool!

After explaining characteristics of a wise virtuous man, Vidura said to Dhritrāshtra: I’ll now describe to you the fool, who is just opposite of wise man. A fool doesn’t hesitate to employ unfair means to achieve his goals & his mind is always filled with desires for sense gratification. He takes long time to accomplish a task that can be quickly done & treats those who are his well-wishers as if they were enemies, while giving inimical persons royal treatment

He who divulges his schemes, who is always full of doubts & trusts an unworthy person, who comes to a place uninvited & then talks excessively without being asked to do so is a great fool. He who blames others when he himself is at fault & is miserly and selfish is also a fool. Who could be more heartless than a wealthy person who dresses nicely & eats fine food, but doesn’t provide such things for his dependents?

A weapon or poison generally is fatal, but bad advice followed by a ruler can destroy his entire kingdom. Hence, a king must not be a fool, nor can he afford to surround himself with fools

Forgiveness is often described as the foremost of all virtues. Only fault of forgiving person is that others consider him to be weak & cowardly. This is not actually a defect, however, for there is great power in forgiveness & thus it becomes a valuable ornament for even the strongest of persons. A man of forgiveness is always glorious, as is poor man who is charitable. A miserly rich man & puffed up poor man should be tied-up with heavy weights around their neck & thrown into river

Property of wife, son & servant is considered to belong to husband, father & master respectively. A Guru who cannot properly explain knowledge contained in scriptures, a king who is not able to give his subjects protection & a wife who speaks disagreeably-these 3 should be abandoned like a sinking ship

If neglected, these 6 things are quickly destroyed- cows, one’s service, agriculture, a wife, one’s learning & the wealth of a Sudra. Thieves subsist upon careless persons, learned persons upon ignorant, woman upon lusty men, physicians depend on ailing & priests on those who perform sacrifices

Wonderful wisdom shower for us by Vidura. There is a clear-cut demarcation between the wise & the fool. We at times make the boundaries blurred and act as per our mentally concocted notions

We all need to elevate ourselves out of the conundrum of self-made beliefs and learn to understand & implement clear guidelines of scriptural wisdom. Bhagvad Gita gives that insight for our evolution both spiritual & material to function in this world. We can add value to our lives by adopting Gita’s multi framework tool to find fresh meaning in our lives based on our situation

Krsna says:

adhyeṣyate ca ya imaṁ dharmyaṁ saṁvādam āvayoḥ

jñāna-yajñena tenāham iṣṭaḥ syām iti me matiḥ

And I declare that he who studies this sacred conversation of ours worships Me by his intelligence

Go for it! Thoughts? #gameoflife