Shloka 13
अध्याय ३३ — धृतराष्ट्रस्य कुशलप्रश्नाः तथा विदुरस्य योगसमाधिः
Chapter 33: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Welfare-Inquiries and Vidura’s Yogic Absorption
गतिमन्तकश्न तेनेष्टवा नानन््ये नित्या भवत्न्युत | नित्येडस्मिन् पञ्चके वर्गे नित्ये चात्मनि पूरुष:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | gatim antakaś ca tena iṣṭvā nānanye nityā bhavanty uta | nitye ’smin pañcake varge nitye cātmani pūruṣaḥ |
Vaiśampāyana dit : Par le sacrifice, les êtres acquièrent la puissance de passer vers d’autres mondes ; ceux qui ne sacrifient pas n’atteignent pas une telle voie. Cet agrégat quintuple des éléments demeure dans sa continuité, et le Soi au sein de l’homme demeure lui aussi. Ainsi, celui qui s’imagine que le Soi naît et périt parce qu’il est associé à maintes sortes de corps—dont on voit les naissances et les destructions—n’a qu’une compréhension vaine. De même, celui qui s’afflige outre mesure quand survient la séparation est, selon moi, encore un enfant.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual action (yajña) is presented as a means to attain higher courses of existence, but the deeper ethical-philosophical point is discernment: the body and elemental aggregate undergo change, while the Self is not truly born or destroyed; therefore excessive grief over separation arises from immature understanding.
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, a reflective instruction is given in the Ashramavāsika context: it contrasts those who perform yajñas with those who do not, then turns to a consolatory teaching about the enduring Self and the folly of thinking the Self perishes with the body, thereby criticizing extreme mourning.