Shloka 20

Devanagari script

कल्याणगोचरं कृत्वा मनस्तृष्णां निगृह[ च । कर्मसंततिमुत्सृज्य स्यान्निरालम्बन: सुखी,अतः (मनुष्यको चाहिये कि) मनको कल्याणके मार्गमें लगाकर तृष्णाको रोके और कर्मोकी परम्पराका परित्याग करके धन-जन आदिके अवलम्बसे दूर हो सुखी हो जाय

Transliteration

kalyāṇa-gocaraṁ kṛtvā manas-tṛṣṇāṁ nigṛhya ca | karma-santatim utsṛjya syān nirālambanaḥ sukhī ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Let a person turn the mind toward what is wholesome and auspicious, restrain craving, and abandon the endless chain of actions driven by desire. Free from dependence on supports such as wealth, family, and possessions, one becomes happy—resting on nothing external.”

Word by Word

कल्याणगोचरम्auspicious sphere/object (of thought)

कृत्वाhaving made/placing

मनःmind

तृष्णाम्craving

निगृह्यhaving restrained

चand

कर्मसंततिम्continuity/series of actions

उत्सृज्यhaving abandoned

स्यात्should be

निरालम्बनःwithout support/dependence

सुखीhappy

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

य

युधिष्ठिर (Yudhiṣṭhira)

म

मनस् (mind)

त

तृष्णा (craving)

क

कर्म (action/karma)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Happiness is stabilized by directing the mind toward the auspicious, restraining craving (tṛṣṇā), and relinquishing the desire-driven chain of actions; one should become ‘nirālambana’—not dependent on external supports like wealth or social attachments.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation after the war, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a renunciatory ethic: inner discipline and detachment from worldly props are presented as the means to lasting well-being.