Shloka 13
मृत्योर्ब्रह्मणा नियोजनम् — The Commissioning of Mṛtyu by Brahmā
क्लेदनं शोकमनसो: संतापं तृष्णया सह | सत्त्वमिच्छसि संतोषाच्छान्तिलक्षणमुत्तमम्
kledanaṃ śokamanasaḥ santāpaṃ tṛṣṇayā saha | sattvam icchasi santoṣāc chāntilakṣaṇam uttamam ||
Vyāsa said: “If you seek the highest peace—marked by tranquility—then, abiding in contentment, choose the sāttvika disposition (sattva). Sattva, together with contentment, dries up and burns away the mind’s grief and its feverish craving, dissolving them as hot water softens and breaks down rice.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cultivate contentment and adopt the sāttvika mode of being; this clarity and balance burns away grief and craving, which are the main sources of inner torment, thereby establishing the highest form of peace.
In the Shānti Parva’s instruction on peace and right living, Vyāsa advises the listener that tranquility is achieved not by external gain but by inner transformation—specifically, by contentment and the cultivation of sattva, illustrated through the metaphor of hot water softening rice.