Mahabharata 3.2.42 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 2, Shloka 42
ब्राह्मणानुयात्रा—शौनकोपदेशः
Brāhmaṇas Follow into Exile and Śaunaka’s Instruction
तस्मादर्थागमा: सर्वे मनोमोहविवर्धना: । कार्पण्यं दर्पमानौ च भयमुद्वेग एव च
tasmād arthāgamāḥ sarve manomohavivardhanāḥ | kārpaṇyaṃ darpamānau ca bhayam udvega eva ca |
Therefore, all means of acquiring wealth only increase delusion in the mind. From wealth arise, for embodied beings, miserliness, arrogance and self-conceit, fear, and constant agitation—afflictions the wise recognize as wealth-born sorrow.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that the pursuit and acquisition of wealth tends to intensify mental delusion and gives rise to ethical and psychological faults—miserliness, arrogance, pride, fear, and anxiety—so the wise treat wealth as a frequent source of suffering for embodied life.
Vaiśampāyana continues a reflective discourse in the early Vana Parva, characterizing wealth-acquisition as spiritually and psychologically hazardous, setting a moral frame that critiques attachment to artha and its consequences.
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