Shloka 56

Nārāyaṇasya Guhya-nāmāni Niruktāni (Etymologies of Nārāyaṇa’s Secret Epithets) / नारायणस्य गुह्यनामानि निरुक्तानि

Devanagari script

अजस्रमेव मोहान्धो दुःखेषु सुखसंज्ञित:

Transliteration

ajasram eva mohāndho duḥkheṣu sukhasaṃjñitaḥ

Translation

Nārada said: Blinded by delusion without cease, he mistakes suffering itself for happiness—taking what is painful to be pleasant, and thus remaining trapped in error.

Word by Word

• अजस्रम्: continually, incessantly
• अजस्रम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अजस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• एव: indeed, just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• मोह-अन्धः: blinded by delusion
• मोह-अन्धः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मोह (प्रातिपदिक) + अन्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दुःखेषु: in sufferings
• दुःखेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Plural

• सुख-संज्ञितः: considering (them) as happiness / taking as pleasure
• सुख-संज्ञितः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुख (प्रातिपदिक) + संज्ञित (कृदन्त; √ज्ञा with सम्, past passive participle sense 'designated/considered')
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Delusion can invert one’s moral and experiential judgment: a person may repeatedly label harmful, painful states as ‘happiness.’ The verse warns that ethical clarity requires recognizing duḥkha as duḥkha and not rationalizing it as sukha.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is speaking in a didactic context within Śānti Parva, characterizing a deluded person’s mindset: continual confusion leads him to misperceive suffering as happiness, illustrating a key obstacle to right understanding and right conduct.