Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 17
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
अदर्शनादापतितः: पुनश्चादर्शनं गत: । न त्वासौ वेद न त्वं तं कः सन् किमनुशोचसि
adarśanād āpatitaḥ punaś cādarśanaṃ gataḥ | na tv asau veda na tvaṃ taṃ kaḥ san kim anuśocasi ||
The Brāhmaṇa said: “From an unseen, unknown state he came into your life, and again into that same unseen state he has departed. He did not truly know you, nor did you truly know him. Being what relation to him, and on what grounds, do you grieve?”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Grief is intensified by the sense of possession and fixed relationship (‘my son’, ‘my own’). Since beings come from and return to an unknown condition, and our knowledge of one another is limited, wisdom counsels restraint in sorrow and a clearer view of impermanence.
A Brāhmaṇa addresses a grieving person and challenges the basis of their lamentation, arguing that the departed came from an unknown state and has gone back to it; therefore the mourner should examine the assumed bond and reduce attachment-driven sorrow.