Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 20
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
सुखात् त्वं दुःखमापन्न: पुनरापत्स्यसे सुखम् | न नित्यं लभते दुःखं न नित्यं लभते सुखम्
sukhāt tvaṁ duḥkham āpannaḥ punar āpatsyase sukham | na nityaṁ labhate duḥkhaṁ na nityaṁ labhate sukham ||
Le brahmane dit : «Du bonheur tu es tombé dans la peine, et de nouveau tu retourneras au bonheur. Ni la douleur ne s’obtient pour toujours, ni la joie ne s’obtient pour toujours.»
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the impermanence of both pleasure and pain: conditions change, so one should not despair in suffering nor become complacent in happiness, but cultivate steadiness and right conduct (dharma) through both.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, a Brahmin addresses someone undergoing distress, offering counsel meant to calm grief and restore perspective by reminding them that misfortune and good fortune alternate and neither lasts forever.