Shloka 60
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
य इमां संहितां पुण्यां पुत्रमध्यापयच्छुकम् । मातापितृसहस्राणि पुत्रदारशतानि च । संसारेष्वनुभूतानि यान्ति यास्यन्ति चापरे
ya imāṃ saṃhitāṃ puṇyāṃ putram adhyāpayac chukam | mātāpitṛsahasrāṇi putradāraśatāni ca | saṃsāreṣv anubhūtāni yānti yāsyanti cāpare ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “He who revealed this holy compendium and taught it to his son Śuka—(thus he sets forth the essential instruction of the Mahābhārata): In the course of saṃsāra, people have already experienced, are experiencing, and will continue to experience the meeting and parting of thousands of mothers and fathers and hundreds of wives and sons. Such bonds are formed and broken again and again.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly relationships—parents, spouses, children—are repeatedly gained and lost across the cycles of saṃsāra. Recognizing this recurring conjunction and separation encourages detachment and a clearer pursuit of dharma rather than clinging to transient bonds.
Vaiśampāyana introduces a key, distilled instruction associated with the Mahābhārata’s sacred teaching tradition: the holy compendium was revealed and taught to Śuka, and its essence is stated as a reflection on the repetitive, impermanent nature of familial ties in worldly existence.