Shloka 2.108.13
जाबाल्युपदेशः — Jabali’s Pragmatic Counsel to Rama
अर्थधर्मपरा ये ये तांस्तांछोचामि नेतरान्।ते हि दुःखमिह प्राप्य विनाशं प्रेत्य भेजिरे।।।।
arthadharmaparā ye ye tāṃs tāñ chocāmi netarān |
te hi duḥkham iha prāpya vināśaṃ pretya bhejire || 2.108.13 ||
I pity those who devote themselves to artha and dharma as binding ideals, not others; for having met suffering here, after death they go on to dissolution all the same.
I prity those who yearn for dharma and artha and not for other things since those who have experienced adversities in this world (disregarding their own interest), will be ultimately destroyed any way by death.
It presents a rejection of dharma as ultimately meaningful, implying that moral striving ends in the same death; the epic uses this to frame a conflict between nihilistic pragmatism and principled righteousness.
Jābāli intensifies his argument by claiming that those who bind themselves to dharma and artha suffer pointlessly since death levels all outcomes.
Rāma’s moral conviction is set up as the counter-virtue: living rightly is not validated merely by outcomes but by adherence to truth and duty.