Vidura

In Hindu mythology, the son of the sage
Vyasa and the serving maid of Queen
Ambika. Ambika and her sister
Ambalika are the wives of King
Vichitravirya, who has died without
heirs. In a desperate attempt to save
the lineage, Vichitravirya’s mother,
Satyavati, summons her son, Vyasa, to
sleep with his brother’s two wives.
Ambika and Ambalika both spontaneously recoil from Vyasa, and each of
their sons is born with a defect:
Ambalika turns pale, causing her son
Pandu to be born with an unnaturally
pale complexion; Ambika covers her
eyes,causing her son Dhrtarashtra to be
born blind. Ambika is so repulsed by
Vyasa’s appearance that when she is told
to sleep with him again, she sends her
serving maid instead. In contrast to the
two sisters, Ambika’s maid gives herself
willingly to Vyasa, and as a reward delivers a handsome son named Vidura.
According to one legend, Vidura is a
partial avatar of Dharma, the god who
is righteousness personified. Vidura
always shows his righteousness in his
dealings with the Pandavas and the
Kauravas, the epic’s two warring factions. As the Kauravas become more and
more wicked, this inclines him more
toward the Pandavas, for whom he
serves as a trusted and faithful adviser. It
is Vidura who realizes the danger in the
House of Lac—a house built entirely of
highly flammable materials—and
makes arrangements for the Pandavas
to escape from it. During the Mahabharata war, he remains neutral, but
after the war is over he again serves as
an adviser to King Yudhishthira, the
eldest of the Pandavas, and to
Yudhishthira’s brothers.