Shloka 6
महातेजस्वी नरश्रेष्ठ] राजालोग भी जीवित रहनेपर ही पुरुषार्थसे कीर्तिलाभ करते हैं। इस बातको समझो; जीवित पुरुषके लिये ही कीर्ति अच्छी मानी गयी है ।। मृतस्य कीर्त्या कि कार्य भस्मी भूतस्य देहिन: । मृतः कीर्ति न जानीते जीवन् कीर्ति समश्षुते,जो मर गया, जिसका शरीर चिताकी आगमें जलकर भस्म हो गया; उसे कीर्तिसे क्या प्रयोजन है? मरा हुआ पुरुष कीर्तिके विषयमें कुछ नहीं जानता। जीवित पुरुष ही कीर्तिजनित सुखका अनुभव करता है
mṛtasya kīrtyā kiṁ kāryaṁ bhasmībhūtasya dehinaḥ | mṛtaḥ kīrtiṁ na jānīte jīvan kīrtiṁ samaśnute ||
Sūrya said: “What use is fame to one who is dead, whose embodied form has been reduced to ashes? The dead do not know fame at all; it is the living who actually partake of the joy that arises from renown. Therefore, understand this: only while one lives can human effort bear the fruit of lasting reputation.”
सूर्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Fame has value only insofar as it is experienced and used by the living; after death, one cannot know or enjoy renown. Hence, meaningful effort and ethical striving should be undertaken while alive, not postponed in reliance on posthumous reputation.
In Vana Parva, Sūrya speaks to instruct and persuade the listener by emphasizing the practical and ethical point that human aims—especially the pursuit of honorable reputation through right action—bear fruit only during life, since the dead are beyond experience.