Shloka 1
नरनारायण-नारदसंवादः
Nara-Nārāyaṇa–Nārada Discourse on Vision, Elements, and Entry into Vāsudeva
अपन का बा | अप्-#-राल जा एकत्रिशर्दाधिकत्रिशततमो< ध्याय: नारदजीका शुकदेवको कर्मफल-प्राप्तिमें परतन्त्रताविषयक उपदेश तथा शुकदेवजीका सूर्यलोकमें जानेका निश्चय नारद उवाच सुखदुः:खविपर्यासो यदा समनुपद्यते । नैनं प्रज्ञा सुनीतं वा त्रायते नापि पौरुषम्,नारदजी कहते हैं--शुकदेव! जब मनुष्य सुखको दुःख और दुःखको सुख समझने लगता है, उस समय बुद्धि, उत्तम नीति और पुरुषार्थ भी उसकी रक्षा नहीं कर पाता
nārada uvāca | sukhaduḥkhaviparyāso yadā samanupadyate | nainaṃ prajñā sunītaṃ vā trāyate nāpi pauruṣam ||
Nārada said: “O Śukadeva, when a person’s understanding becomes inverted—taking pleasure for pain and pain for pleasure—then neither discernment, nor sound ethical guidance, nor even personal effort can protect him from the consequences.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
When one’s moral and experiential judgment becomes distorted—mistaking what is harmful as beneficial and what is beneficial as harmful—then even intelligence, good counsel, and personal effort fail to safeguard one, because the very faculty that should choose rightly has become unreliable.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Nārada addresses Śukadeva and begins a teaching on human dependence on karmic results and the dangers of deluded perception, framing how ethical clarity is essential for right action and protection from adverse outcomes.