Shloka 30

अरण्यवृत्ति-वैराग्योपदेशः | Forest Discipline and the Program of Non-Attachment

Devanagari script

कुशलाकुशलान्येके कृत्वा कर्माणि मानवा: । कार्यकारणसंश्लिष्टं स्वजनं नाम बिभ्रति

Transliteration

kuśalākuśalāny eke kṛtvā karmāṇi mānavāḥ | kāryakāraṇasaṃśliṣṭaṃ svajanaṃ nāma bibhrati ||

Translation

Manche Menschen halten, nachdem sie heilsame wie unheilsame Taten vollbracht haben, dennoch an dem fest, was sie „die Ihren“ nennen: einen Kreis von Verwandten und Verbündeten, verknüpft durch Berechnungen von Zweck und Mittel, von Vorteil und Ursache.

Word by Word

कुशलwelfare, good

अकुशलानिharm, ill

एकेsome (people)

कृत्वाhaving done

कर्माणिactions, deeds

मानवाःmen, humans

कार्यकारणसंश्लिष्टम्bound up with cause and effect (duty and reason)

स्वजनम्one's own people/kinsman

नामindeed; as it were; by name

बिभ्रतिthey bear/maintain

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yudhiṣṭhira points to a common ethical tension: people commit both good and bad actions, yet continue to uphold a ‘circle of their own’ formed not purely by virtue but by entanglement in purposes and instruments—pragmatic calculations of benefit, causality, and obligation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s reflective setting after the war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks in a questioning, analytical tone about human conduct and social bonds, observing how individuals justify and preserve their affiliations (svajana) despite mixed moral behavior.