Shloka 93
Śoka-śamana: Kṛṣṇa’s Consolation and Nārada’s Exempla to Sṛñjaya
Chapter 29
स चेन्ममार सूंजय चतुर्भद्रतरस्त्वया । पुत्रात् पुण्यतरश्वैव मा पुत्रनुतप्यथा:
sa cen mamāra suñjaya caturbhadrataras tvayā | putrāt puṇyataras caiva mā putra nutapyathāḥ ||
Vāyu said: “If that one has died, O Suñjaya, he has met a fourfold more auspicious end than you. Indeed, he is even more meritorious than a son. Therefore, do not grieve over him as ‘my son.’”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reframes loss through a dharmic lens: a person’s virtuous end and accumulated merit can be ‘more auspicious’ than ordinary worldly ties. Therefore, grief rooted in possessiveness (“my son”) should be restrained, and one should honor the higher good (puṇya) rather than cling to attachment.
Vāyudeva addresses Suñjaya, responding to news of someone’s death. He consoles him by asserting that the deceased attained a particularly auspicious end and is even ‘more meritorious than a son,’ urging Suñjaya not to lament with the mindset of filial possession.