Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 13
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
(हृष्पन्तमवसीदन्तं सुखदुःखविपर्यये । आत्मानमनुशोचामि ममैष हृदि संस्थित: ।।
hṛṣyantam avasīdantaṃ sukhaduḥkhaviparyaye | ātmānam anuśocāmi mamaiṣa hṛdi saṃsthitaḥ ||
“The wheel of pleasure and pain keeps reversing. When pleasure comes, I swell with elation; when sorrow comes, I sink into dejection. Seeing myself caught in this oscillation, I grieve for my own condition again and again. That very grief has taken up residence within my heart.” Then the Brahmin said: “O king, behold the beings of this world—high, middling, and low—each clinging to their several deeds, all everywhere afflicted with suffering.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Emotional dependence on the alternating cycle of pleasure and pain produces continual inner grief; recognizing this pattern is a step toward steadiness and detachment.
A brāhmaṇa speaker reflects introspectively on his own mind: he becomes elated in happiness and depressed in sorrow, and he confesses that this recurring lament has settled in his heart.