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 ||
Śaunaka dit : «En ce monde, parmi tous les êtres vivants, la souffrance n’est jamais absente ; comment le bonheur pourrait-il donc être assuré ? Telle est la nature même des créatures incarnées : elles doivent passer par toutes sortes de relations et de contacts, et avec ces contacts viennent des peines inévitables, tandis que les plaisirs ne sont que passagers.»
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.