Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 50
Gautama–Śakra Saṃvāda: Karma, Loka-bheda, and the Restoration of the Elephant
नद्देष्यो न प्रिय: कश्रिन्न बन्धुर्न रिपुस्तथा । न जरामरणे तत्र न पुण्यं न च पातकम्
na dveṣyo na priyaḥ kaścin na bandhur na ripus tathā | na jarāmaraṇe tatra na puṇyaṃ na ca pātakam ||
Gautama said: “There, no one is an object of hatred or of special affection; there is neither kinsman nor enemy. In that realm there is neither old age nor death, neither merit nor sin.”
गौतम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse describes a transcendent realm where dualities (hate/affection, friend/enemy) and the ordinary karmic ledger (merit/sin) no longer operate, pointing toward liberation beyond worldly conditioning.
Gautama is characterizing an exalted state/realm (understood in context as Brahmaloka or a liberation-oriented condition) by negating the features of embodied life—aging, death, and relational oppositions—thereby elevating the listener’s aim from worldly concerns to spiritual release.