Shloka 46
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
यच्च कामसुखं लोके यच्च दिव्यं महत् सुखम् | तृष्णाक्षयसुखस्यैते नाहत: षोडशीं कलाम्
yacca kāmasukhaṁ loke yacca divyaṁ mahat sukham | tṛṣṇākṣayasukhasyaite nāhataḥ ṣoḍaśīṁ kalām ||
The Brāhmaṇa said: Whatever pleasure of sense-enjoyment exists in this world, and whatever great, heavenly pleasure exists in the next—both of these do not equal even a sixteenth part of the happiness that arises from the exhaustion of craving.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly and even heavenly pleasures are minor compared to the peace and joy that come from ending craving; liberation-oriented happiness is qualitatively superior because it is not dependent on external objects and does not renew bondage.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, a Brāhmaṇa speaker contrasts ordinary sense-pleasures and celestial enjoyments with the higher happiness of tṛṣṇākṣaya (the fading away of thirst), urging an inward ethical turn toward detachment.