Shloka 88
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
सुखस्यानन्तरं दुःखं दुःखस्यानन्तरं सुखम्
sukhasyānantaraṃ duḥkhaṃ duḥkhasyānantaraṃ sukham
Jambuka said: “After happiness comes sorrow, and after sorrow comes happiness. Know, then, the world’s alternating course, and stand steady—neither intoxicated by pleasure nor crushed by pain.”
जम्बुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Pleasure and pain alternate in worldly life; recognizing this, one should cultivate steadiness (samatā), avoiding attachment to सुख and aversion to दुःख, and act according to dharma without being swayed by changing circumstances.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Jambuka delivers a concise instruction: he points to the inevitable succession of सुख and दुःख as a basis for ethical composure and inner discipline.