Shloka 43
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
यन्निमित्तं भवेच्छोकस्तापो वा दुःखमेव च । आयासो वा यतो मूलमेकाज्रमपि तत् त्यजेत्
yan-nimittaṁ bhavec chokaḥ tāpo vā duḥkham eva ca | āyāso vā yato mūlam ekāgram api tat tyajet ||
Whatever becomes the cause of grief, burning distress, or suffering—and whatever is the root from which excessive strain arises—should be abandoned, even if it is only a single attachment clung to with one-pointed fixation. The teaching urges cutting off the very seed of sorrow rather than merely enduring its consequences.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Identify the root-cause of grief and suffering—especially a single, tightly held fixation—and abandon it. The verse emphasizes preventive ethics: remove the source rather than repeatedly coping with the pain it generates.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, a Brahmin speaker offers counsel on how to live without being driven into sorrow and exhaustion. The instruction is framed as practical guidance: relinquish whatever reliably produces distress, even if it seems small or personally cherished.