Shloka 44
Śoka-śamana: Kṛṣṇa’s Consolation and Nārada’s Exempla to Sṛñjaya
Chapter 29
अदक्षिणमयज्वानं मा पुत्रमनुतप्यथा: । स चेन्ममार सूंजय चतुर्भद्रतरस्त्वया । पुत्रात् पुण्यतरश्वैव मा पुत्रमनुतप्यथा:,“सृंजय! राजा शिबि पूर्वोक्त चारों कल्याणकारी बातोंमें तुमसे बहुत बढ़े-चढ़े थे। तुम्हारे पुत्रसे भी अधिक पुण्यात्मा थे। जब वे भी मर गये तब दूसरेकी कया बात है, अतः तुम अपने पुत्रके लिये शोक मत करो। उसने न तो कोई यज्ञ किया था, न दक्षिणा ही दी थी; अतः उस पुत्रके लिये शोक नहीं करना चाहिये
vāyudeva uvāca | adakṣiṇam ayajvānaṃ mā putram anutapyathāḥ | sa cen mamāra sṛñjaya caturbhadrataras tvayā | putrāt puṇyataras caiva mā putram anutapyathāḥ |
Vāyudeva said: “Do not grieve for your son who performed no sacrifice and gave no sacrificial fee. If even that king Śibi of old—O Sṛñjaya—who was fourfold more auspicious and virtuous than you, and indeed more meritorious than your son, has died, then what is there to be said of anyone else? Therefore, do not sorrow for your son.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vāyudeva teaches restraint of grief by recalling impermanence and ethical evaluation: death is universal even for the most virtuous, and lamentation should be tempered by dharmic understanding. He also links spiritual merit to yajña and dakṣiṇā (sacrificial giving), contrasting exemplary kings like Śibi with one who did not cultivate such merit.
In Śānti Parva’s consolatory instruction, Vāyudeva addresses King Sṛñjaya, who is mourning his son. To redirect him from sorrow, the deity cites the famed King Śibi—renowned for righteousness and generosity—who also died, arguing that if such a great person is subject to death, then grieving over others is futile; thus Sṛñjaya should cease lamenting.