Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 33
Dvaipāyana-hrade Duryodhanasya Māyā — Yudhiṣṭhirasya Dharmoktiḥ (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 30)
स नो दास्यति सुप्रीतो धनानि बहुलान्युत । कि नो मांसेन शुष्केण परिक्लिप्टेन शोषिणा
sa no dāsyati suprīto dhanāni bahulāny uta | ki no māṁsena śuṣkeṇa parikl̥iptena śoṣiṇā ||
Sañjaya said: “Pleased with us, he will surely give us abundant wealth. Why then should we needlessly endure hardship by carrying this dried meat that only drains the body’s vital fluids?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the lure of reward can make people rationalize abandoning endurance and restraint; it implicitly critiques greed-driven thinking that treats bodily strain and moral cost as expendable when profit seems assured.
Sañjaya reports a speaker’s calculation: since a benefactor is expected to be very pleased and grant abundant wealth, they question the point of continuing to carry dried meat that causes physical depletion, framing the burden as needless suffering.