Shloka 55
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
या दुस्त्यजा दुर्मतिभिर्या न जीर्य॑ति जीर्यत: । योडसौ प्राणान्तिको रोगस्तां तृष्णां त्यजत: सुखम्
yā dustyajā durmatibhir yā na jīryati jīryataḥ | yo ’sau prāṇāntiko rogās tāṃ tṛṣṇāṃ tyajataḥ sukham ||
The Brāhmaṇa said: That craving which is hard to abandon for the foolish, which does not grow old even when a person grows old, and which clings on like a disease that departs only with one’s very life—only the one who casts off that thirst attains true happiness.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Craving (tṛṣṇā) is portrayed as an affliction that persists throughout life and does not diminish with age; genuine happiness arises from relinquishing this insatiable desire through discernment and self-restraint.
Within the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, a Brāhmaṇa speaker offers a moral reflection: he characterizes tṛṣṇā as a life-long disease and declares that the person who abandons it alone attains sukha (well-being).