Mahabharata — Stree Parva, Shloka 25
Strī Parva, Adhyāya 2 — Vidura’s Consolation on Kāla, Karma, and the Limits of Lamentation (विदुरोपदेशः)
अनित्यं यौवन रूप॑ं जीवित द्रव्यसंचय: । आरोग्यं प्रियसंवासो गृद्धयेदेषु न पण्डित:
anityaṁ yauvana-rūpaṁ jīvita-dravya-saṁcayaḥ | ārogyaṁ priya-saṁvāso gṛdhyed eṣu na paṇḍitaḥ ||
Beauty and youth are impermanent; so too are life itself and the accumulation of wealth. Health and the comfort of living together with one’s loved ones are also transient. Therefore, a wise person does not cling to or crave these things.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
All worldly supports—youth, beauty, life, wealth, health, and even the presence of loved ones—are unstable; wisdom lies in non-attachment and freedom from craving.
In the grief-filled context of the Strī Parva after the war, Vidura speaks as a counselor, offering sobering instruction meant to steady the mind through reflection on impermanence and the limits of worldly security.
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