Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 46
Janaka’s Quest for Liberation; Pañcaśikha’s Sāṅkhya on Renunciation, Elements, Guṇas, and the Deathless State
अर्थास्तथा हंति सुखावहांश्च लिहत एते बहवोपशुष्काः । महत्तरं दुःखमभिप्रपन्ना हित्वामिषं मृत्युवशं प्रयांति ॥ ४६ ॥
arthāstathā haṃti sukhāvahāṃśca lihata ete bahavopaśuṣkāḥ | mahattaraṃ duḥkhamabhiprapannā hitvāmiṣaṃ mṛtyuvaśaṃ prayāṃti || 46 ||
So too do worldly objects destroy even what seems to bring happiness. Many, licking at them again and again, become utterly dried up and worn out; having fallen into greater sorrow, they abandon the bait and go under the sway of Death.
Sanatkumara (teaching Narada)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It warns that pleasures and possessions, though seeming to give happiness, ultimately exhaust the seeker and lead to deeper suffering; liberation requires seeing them as a deceptive “bait” and turning away from attachment.
By exposing the futility of craving, the verse implicitly directs the mind to a higher refuge—steady devotion to the Lord—so that desire for transient objects is replaced by devotion that leads beyond the reach of Death.
No specific Vedanga (like Vyakarana, Jyotisha, or Kalpa) is taught here; the practical takeaway is ethical-spiritual discipline—sense-restraint (dama) and dispassion (vairagya)—which supports all Vedic practice and sadhana.