Shloka 16

Devanagari script

न हास्ति सर्वभूतेषु दुः:खमस्मिन्‌ कुत: सुखम्‌ । एवं प्रकृतिभूतानां सर्वसंसर्गयायिनाम्‌

Transliteration

na hāsti sarvabhūteṣu duḥkham asmin kutaḥ sukham | evaṃ prakṛtibhūtānāṃ sarvasaṃsargayāyinām ||

Translation

Śaunaka said: “In this world, among all living beings, suffering is never absent—so how could happiness be assured? Such is the very nature of embodied creatures: they must pass through every kind of association and contact, and with those contacts come inevitable pains, while pleasures are fleeting.”

Word by Word

नnot

हिindeed/for

अस्तिis/exists

सर्वभूतेषुin all beings

दुःखम्sorrow/pain

अस्मिन्in this (world/state)

कुतःwhence/how (then)

सुखम्happiness/pleasure

एवम्thus/in this way

प्रकृतिभूतानाम्of those that have become (such) by nature / naturally constituted

सर्वसंसर्गयायिनाम्of those who go/are subject to all associations/contacts

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śaunaka

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Happiness is not a guaranteed, stable state for embodied beings because contact and association (saṃsarga) are unavoidable, and with them come inevitable forms of suffering; therefore one should cultivate realism, restraint, and detachment rather than expecting unbroken pleasure.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shānti Parva’s reflective discourse, Śaunaka voices a general philosophical observation about the condition of living beings: life necessarily involves continual interactions and attachments, making suffering inescapable and happiness intermittent.