Shloka 283
Strī Parva, Adhyāya 2 — Vidura’s Consolation on Kāla, Karma, and the Limits of Lamentation (विदुरोपदेशः)
मानुषा मानसैर्दु:खैर्दहान्ते चाल्पबुद्धय: । मन्दबुद्धि मनुष्य ही अप्रिय वस्तुका संयोग और प्रिय वस्तुका वियोग होनेपर मानसिक दुःखोंसे दग्ध होने लगते हैं
mānuṣā mānasair duḥkhair dahyante cālpabuddhayaḥ | mandabuddhi-manuṣyā hi apriya-vastuka-saṃyoge priya-vastuka-viyoge ca mānasair duḥkhair dagdhā bhavanti |
Vidura says that people of little understanding are consumed by mental suffering. When they meet what they dislike, or are separated from what they love, the dull-witted are scorched within by grief—showing how attachment and aversion, rather than events alone, kindle inner torment.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Mental anguish intensifies in those lacking discernment: attachment to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant make the mind burn when faced with unwanted contact or the loss of what is loved.
In the Stree Parva’s lament-filled aftermath of the war, Vidura offers reflective counsel, diagnosing how ordinary people become inwardly tormented by the mind’s reactions to separation and unwanted encounters.