Shloka 16
अज्ञान–लोभयोः परस्परहेतुत्वम्
Mutual Causality of Ignorance and Greed
न हास्ति सर्वभूतेषु दुः:खमस्मिन् कुत: सुखम् । एवं प्रकृतिभूतानां सर्वसंसर्गयायिनाम्
na hāsti sarvabhūteṣu duḥkham asmin kutaḥ sukham | evaṃ prakṛtibhūtānāṃ sarvasaṃsargayāyinām ||
Dijo Śaunaka: «En este mundo, entre todos los seres, el sufrimiento nunca está ausente; ¿cómo, entonces, podría asegurarse la dicha? Tal es la naturaleza misma de las criaturas encarnadas: han de atravesar toda clase de trato y contacto, y con esos contactos llegan dolores inevitables, mientras los placeres son fugaces.»
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Happiness is not a guaranteed, stable state for embodied beings because contact and association (saṃsarga) are unavoidable, and with them come inevitable forms of suffering; therefore one should cultivate realism, restraint, and detachment rather than expecting unbroken pleasure.
In the Shānti Parva’s reflective discourse, Śaunaka voices a general philosophical observation about the condition of living beings: life necessarily involves continual interactions and attachments, making suffering inescapable and happiness intermittent.