Mahabharata 3.201.109 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 109
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
आत्मना विप्रहीणानि काष्ठकुड्योपमानि च । विनश्यन्ति न संदेह: फेनानीव महार्णवे
ātmanā viprahīṇāni kāṣṭha-kuḍyopamāni ca | vinaśyanti na saṁdehaḥ phenānīva mahārṇave ||
যারা আত্মা-শূন্য, তারা কাঠের প্রাচীরের মতোই নিতান্ত নীরস; নিঃসন্দেহে তারা বিনষ্ট হয়—মহাসাগরের ফেনার মতো মিলিয়ে যায়।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A life lacking inner self-awareness and moral-spiritual grounding (ātman) is unstable and short-lived; such persons or endeavors collapse inevitably, as foam disappears on the ocean.
Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on the fragility of those who lack inner substance, using vivid similes—wooden walls and ocean-foam—to emphasize certain ruin and impermanence.
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