Shloka 64
प्रह्लादचरितम् (हिरण्यकशिपोः स्वर्गापहरणं, प्रह्लादस्य विष्णुभक्तिः, उपदेशः)
अग्नेः शीतेन तोयस्य तृषा भक्तस्य च क्षुधा क्रियते सुखकर्तृत्वं तद्विलोमस्य चेतरैः
agneḥ śītena toyasya tṛṣā bhaktasya ca kṣudhā kriyate sukhakartṛtvaṃ tadvilomasya cetaraiḥ
Cold water becomes a giver of comfort to one scorched by fire; hunger makes food a source of happiness; and so too do other things become causes of pleasure only through their opposites and reversals of condition.
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Relativity of pleasure and pain based on opposing conditions
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: revealing
Concept: Pleasure arises from contrast with prior pain, showing that worldly sukha is conditional and not intrinsically satisfying.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Train equanimity by observing sensations as changing states; reduce compulsive seeking of ‘opposites’ and cultivate steadier inner devotion.
Vishishtadvaita: Since worldly sukha is contingent, the stable refuge is the Lord; discernment supports surrender (prapatti) and bhakti as the enduring good.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse explains that pleasure is often experienced only in contrast to suffering—cool water delights one who is burned, and food delights one who is hungry—showing worldly happiness to be conditional and dependent on opposites.
He uses paired examples (heat/coolness, hunger/food) to show that an object becomes a cause of happiness due to a prior opposing condition; without the opposite state, the same object may not produce the same joy.
By highlighting the conditional nature of worldly sukha, the teaching implicitly directs the seeker toward the unconditioned Supreme Reality—Vishnu—whose fullness is not dependent on opposites or changing circumstances.