Shloka 92
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
पुत्रशोकाभितप्तानां मृतानामद्य व: क्षमम् । सुखसम्भावनं कृत्वा धारयित्वा सुखं स्वयम् | त्यक्त्वा गमिष्यथ क्वाद्य समुत्सृज्याल्पबुद्धिवत्
jambuka uvāca | putraśokābhitaptānāṁ mṛtānām adya vaḥ kṣamam | sukhasambhāvanaṁ kṛtvā dhārayitvā sukhaṁ svayam | tyaktvā gamiṣyatha kvādya samutsṛjyālpabuddhivat ||
Jambuka said: “You who are scorched by grief for your son are, as it were, already dead. For you, it is not fitting to turn back in this manner today. Having conceived the possibility of happiness through this child, and having yourselves held fast to the hope of attaining that happiness, where will you go now if you abandon him—casting him off like men of little understanding?”
जम्बुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not let grief drive you into rash, self-defeating abandonment; when a path to renewed well-being is possible, one should sustain hope and act with steadiness and responsibility rather than foolishly casting it away.
Jambuka addresses people overwhelmed by the loss of a son, rebuking their impulse to withdraw or give up; he urges them to hold to the prospect of happiness connected with the child and not abandon him in despair.