Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 14
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
(अहमेको न मे कक्षरिन्नाहमन्यस्य कस्यचित् । न तं पश्यामि यस्याहं तं न पश्यामि यो मम ।।
aham eko na me kaścid nāham anyasya kasyacit | na taṃ paśyāmi yasyāhaṃ taṃ na paśyāmi yo mama || ātmāpi cāyaṃ na mama sarvā vā pṛthivī mama | yathā mama tathā anyeṣām iti cintya na me vyathā | etāṃ buddhim ahaṃ prāpya na praharṣe na ca vyathe ||
The Brahmin said: “I am alone. No one is truly mine, nor do I belong to anyone else. I do not see that person to whom I could be said to belong, nor do I see anyone who could be called mine. Even this self is not ‘mine,’ nor is the whole earth mine. Reflecting that what is the case for me is equally the case for others, I feel no anguish. Having attained this understanding, I neither exult nor grieve.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches non-possessiveness and equanimity: the sense of “mine” and “I belong to someone” is ultimately unfounded. By reflecting that one’s condition is shared by all beings, one becomes free from both grief and excessive joy.
In the Shanti Parva’s didactic setting, a Brahmin speaker articulates a renunciant insight to calm the mind: rejecting claims of ownership over persons, self, or even the earth, he presents a mental discipline that leads to freedom from emotional agitation.