The Curse on Dharma – Stories from Adi Parva
Dharma was born as Vidura in the Mahabharata due to a curse from Rishi Mandavya. This story has been narrated in the Adi Parva.

A long time ago, there lived a Brahmin named Mandavya who was steadfast in following austerities. He was devoted to truth and established in dharma. He took the vow of silence and meditated with his hands held high in the air.
One day, a group of robbers stole something from the nearby kingdom and escaped into the forest. They reached the region where Mandavya lived in a small hut. Seeing his house, they hid the stolen goods inside to prevent getting caught by the royal guards. However, the guards chasing the robbers came to the same place and asked Mandavya where the robbers went. Since he was meditating, the Brahmin did not respond. The guards searched the place and found the stolen goods in his hut.
They assumed he was one of the robbers and acted like a rishi to avoid punishment. The guards grabbed the meditating rishi and carried him to the king. The king listened to the update and sentenced Mandavya to death. He was impaled on a stake. However, he continued with his meditation. He summoned other rishis who visited him in the form of vultures at night and spoke to him.
The king found out he had wrongly punished a rishi and went to him with his advisors. He apologized to Mandavya and asked for forgiveness. The king personally lowered the rishi from the stake. However, no matter how much he tried, the tip of the stake remained inside the rishi. Finally, the king cut it off. The rishi continued his tapasya with the sharp end of the stake inside his body.
Many days later, Mandavya went to the abode of Dharma (Yamadharmaraja) and asked why he was given such a punishment. Dharma replied that the rishi had inserted a stick in an insect and impaled its wings when he was young. This act of his was being punished.
Mandavya felt that the punishment was too much for such a small crime, that too committed by a young child. He said that crimes committed by those younger than fourteen should be severely punished. Mandavya cursed Dharma to be born as a human from a lower sect. However, he would still be a learned and wise man and help others follow dharma.
That was how Dharma was born as Vidura, the son of Vyasa and the maid of Ambika (the widow of Vichitrivirya, son of Satyavati and Shantanu).
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