Shloka 22
Vyāsa’s Counsel to the Concealed Pāṇḍavas; Śaṃkara’s Boon and the Predestination of Draupadī
Chapter 157
आत्मा होको हि धर्मार्थों कामं चैव निषेवते | एतैश्व विप्रयोगोडपि दु:ःखं परमनन्तकम्,जीवात्मा अकेला ही धर्म, अर्थ और कामका सेवन करता है। इनका वियोग होना भी उसके लिये महान् और अनन्त दुःखका कारण होता है
ātmā hy eko hi dharmārthān kāmāṁś caiva niṣevate | etaiś ca viprayogo 'pi duḥkhaṁ param anantakam ||
Das individuelle Selbst allein erfährt und erstrebt Dharma, Artha und Kāma. Darum wird die Trennung von ihnen — wenn Rechtschaffenheit, Wohlstand oder begehrte Genüsse verloren gehen — für eben dieses Selbst zur höchsten, scheinbar endlosen Quelle des Kummers.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the individual self personally engages with the aims of life—dharma, artha, and kāma—and thus personally bears the sorrow when these are lost. It highlights moral agency and the inevitability of suffering tied to attachment and separation.
A brāhmaṇa speaker offers a reflective, didactic statement about human experience: one’s own self pursues life’s goals and consequently undergoes profound grief when separated from them. The line functions as ethical instruction rather than describing an external action scene.