Shloka 30
Subhadrā-vilāpaḥ — Subhadrā’s Lament for Abhimanyu
Droṇa-parva 55
गृहौनमनुपायज्ञा नीत्वारण्यमचेतस:,योग्य उपायको न जाननेवाले उन विवेकशून्य डाकुओंने उसे वनमें ले जाकर मार डाला और उसके शरीरके टुकड़े-टुकड़े करके देखा, परंतु उन्हें थोड़ा-सा भी धन नहीं दिखायी दिया। उसके प्राणशून्य होते ही वह वरदायक वैभव नष्ट हो गया
gṛhaunam anupāyajñā nītvāraṇyam acetasaḥ | yogyam upāyako na jānann eva vivekaśūnyā ḍākavās taṁ vanaṁ nītvā mārayām āsuḥ | tasya śarīraṁ khaṇḍa-khaṇḍaṁ kṛtvāpaśyan, na ca teṣāṁ kiñcid api dhanaṁ dṛśyate sma | tasya prāṇaśūnye bhūte sa varadāyakaṁ vaibhavaṁ naṣṭam abhavat ||
Vyāsa said: The robbers—foolish men who did not know the proper means—took him into the forest and killed him. They even cut his body into pieces and searched, yet they did not see even a little wealth. As soon as he became lifeless, that boon-bestowing prosperity vanished. The episode underscores how greed and lack of discernment lead to cruelty, and how fortune that is not grounded in dharma proves unstable and perishes with the person who bears it.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greed without discernment leads to adharma and brutality, yet it yields no true gain; prosperity that is not rooted in dharma is unstable and can vanish instantly—here, disappearing with the person’s life.
Bandits take a man into the forest, kill him, and even dismember his body searching for hidden wealth. They find nothing, and the text notes that the boon-like prosperity associated with him disappears the moment he dies.