Who Is A Pandit? — According To Vidura

A Pandit is someone who doesn’t abandon an initiated task!

The surface of the internet is where most of its users dwell with most never ever diving below the first few inches. This means, the information there is merely the information prevalent, not relevant.

That surface defines a Pandit as:

a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge in Hinduism, particularly the Vedic scriptures, dharma, or Hindu philosophy…

and a Pundit as:

an expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called on to give opinions about it to the public.

(We see them everywhere these days, talking about politics, economy, sports, etc.)

NOW THAT WAS A PREVALENT INFORMATION.

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE RELEVANT NOW:

The term Pundit is a useless modification of the term Pandit apart from as a tool to separate Hindu Pandits from the modern entertainment clowns. The Pandit then, means a person of knowledge. But what kind of knowledge?

Let’s see the characteristics of a Pandit as described by Vidura, one of the initial Pandits from Hindu mythology Mahabharata.

Vidura was the third son of Ved Vyasa.

In Mahabharata, Satyavati and Shantanu gave birth to Chitrangad and Vichitravirya. After the death of Shantanu, Chirtangad became the king but didn’t survive.

The daughters of the king of Kashi, Ambika and Ambalika, were forced to be wed the succeeding king, Vichitravirya by Satyavati. He, too, passed away without leaving an heir. Satyavati then invited her other son Ved Vyasa to join Ambika and Ambalika in bed after realizing the situation was critical. Because Vyasa was unable to refuse his mother’s request, he agreed.

Ambika couldn’t look at Vyasa during sex since he looked fearsome — as a forest dwelling Rishi would! Similarly, Ambalika got pale at his sight. Those two gave birth to the blind Dhritarastra and the weak Pandu respectively. Satyavati wasn’t pleased with all this so she requested Ambika and Vyas once more. This time, however, Ambika sent her servant Vanita who had a complete and satisfied sex with Vyasa. From her, Vidura — a dharmatma, and a wise one was born.

His lineage from the servants meant he couldn’t be the king, so he spent his life as an advisor and prime minister in the Kuru court.

These descriptions of a Pandita come from Vidura-Niti, a collection of lessons and advice he offered to Dhritarashtra.

1. A Pandit is someone who has the knowledge of his true situation and has the strength to persevere through hardships and pain (1:20)
2. A Pandit is someone who isn’t influenced by anger, happiness, pride, shame and who doesn’t consider himself to be the best (1:22)
3. A Pandit is someone whose actions are known to others only after they have been carried out (1:23)
4. A Pandit is someone whose works are immune to the effects of heat, cold, fear, love, lust, and wealth (1: 24)
5. A genius pays close attention to what is being said and grasps it right away. Following that, he begins to Purushartha. He never makes uninformed comments about other people. A Pandit is someone who possesses these qualities(1:27)
6. A Pandit doesn’t lust over the unattainable. He doesn’t worry about things lost or damaged. He isn’t intimidated by hard times (1:28)
7. A Pandit first decides to do something, and only then does he actually start doing it. He doesn’t stop the task mid-way and doesn’t waste his time. A Pandit has self-control (1:29)
8. Pandits show interest towards real deeds. They do action that is beneficial and promotes welfare. They refrain from interfering with actions carried out for the benefit of others (1:30)
9. A Pandit is one who neither displays excessive joy at being respected nor sings songs of self-glorification or becomes enraged while being treated with contempt. (1:31)
10. A Pandit is someone who can speak eloquently, debate in a variety of ways, is rational, and can use examples from different scriptures to illustrate their points.(1:33)
11. A Pandit is someone whose knowledge and reasoning follow each other and who values the dignity of deserving people (1:34)
12. A person who isn’t arrogant in spite of great knowledge and wealth is a Pandit (1:45)

Extra:

13. An arrow from an archer may or may not strike its target, but the wisdom from a wise person can destroy not just the king but an entire nation (1:48).