Shloka 5
Sanatsujāta-Āhvāna (Summoning Sanatsujāta) — Vidura’s Invocation and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Doubt
प्रमादाद् वै असुरा: पराभव- न्नप्रमादाद् ब्रह्मभूता: सुराश्ष । नैव मृत्युर्व्याघ्र इवात्ति जन्तून् न हास्य रूपमुपलभ्यते हि
pramādād vai asurāḥ parābhavan na pramādād brahmabhūtāḥ surāḥ | naiva mṛtyur vyāghra ivātti jantūn na hāsya rūpam upalabhyate hi ||
Sanatsujāta lehrt, dass die asurische Gesinnung durch Unachtsamkeit der Niederlage verfällt, während die devische Gesinnung durch Wachsamkeit und Erwachen einen brahman‑gleichen Zustand erlangt. Der Tod, sagt er, verschlingt die Wesen nicht sichtbar wie ein Tiger; denn der Tod besitzt keine Gestalt, die unmittelbar wahrgenommen werden könnte. Er überwindet durch die innere Ursache der Nachlässigkeit, nicht durch eine gesehene, greifbare Form.
सनत्युजात उवाच
Educational Q&A
Negligence (pramāda) is the inner cause of downfall and ‘death’ in the ethical-spiritual sense, while vigilance (apramāda) leads to elevation—symbolized as becoming brahman-like. Death is not a visible predator; it prevails through unseen conditions, especially heedlessness.
In the Sanatsujātīya discourse within Udyoga Parva, Sanatsujāta instructs (in response to existential concerns about death and right living) that the decisive factor is one’s attentiveness or negligence: asuric tendencies fall through pramāda, whereas divine tendencies rise through apramāda.