Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 23
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
स्नेहपाशैर्बहुविधैराविष्टविषया जना: । अकृतार्थाश्न सीदन्ते जलै: सैकतसेतव:
snehapāśair bahuvidhair āviṣṭaviṣayā janāḥ | akṛtārthāś ca sīdanti jalaiḥ saikataseṭavaḥ ||
The Brāhmaṇa said: “People, bound fast by many kinds of cords of affection, remain hemmed in by attachment to sense-objects. Therefore, their aims are left unfulfilled and they sink into distress—like bridges made of sand that are swept away by rushing waters.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment (sneha) binds people in many ways and keeps them trapped in sense-objects (viṣaya). Because such pursuits are unstable and easily destroyed, one’s aims remain unfulfilled, leading to sorrow; the verse urges detachment and steadiness of purpose.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, a Brahmin speaker instructs by using a vivid simile: people entangled in worldly affections are like sand-bridges that cannot withstand the force of water—so their worldly desires collapse and they suffer.