The person who profits from your choice
Vidura states this plainly in the Udyoga Parva: a person whose interests are tied to your outcome cannot give you clean counsel. They are not lying, necessarily. They believe what they say. But their belief is shaped by what they stand to gain, and that shaping happens below the level of their awareness. The relative who advises you to sell the family property because the market is right, and who will receive a share of the proceeds, is not your advisor. He is a stakeholder wearing the mask of one. Vidura's warning applies equally to the colleague who encourages you to take a risk that benefits his own position, and to the friend whose social standing rises if yours does. The advice may be correct. The source is still compromised. Separate the two before you act.
