Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 35
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
(सुखं स्वपिति दुर्मेधा: स्वानि कर्माण्यचिन्तयन् । अविज्ञानेन महता कम्बलेनेव संवृतः ।॥) खोटी बुद्धिवाला मूर्ख मनुष्य अपने कर्मोके शुभाशुभ परिणामकी कोई परवा न करके सुखसे सोता है; क्योंकि वह कम्बलसे ढके हुए पुरुषकी भाँति महान् अज्ञानसे आवृत रहता है।।
sukhaṃ svapiti durmedhāḥ svāni karmāṇy acintayan | avijñānena mahatā kambalen eva saṃvṛtaḥ || ye ca buddhisukhaṃ prāptā dvandvātītā vimatsarāḥ | tān naivārthā na cānarthā vyathayanti kadācana ||
Le brahmane dit : L’homme à l’esprit obtus dort paisiblement sans songer à ses propres actes, car une grande ignorance l’enveloppe, tel un homme couvert d’une couverture. Mais ceux qui ont atteint la félicité née de la compréhension—qui ont dépassé les paires d’opposés et sont exempts d’envie—ne sont jamais tourmentés, à aucun moment, ni par le gain ni par la perte.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ignorance can create a false sense of comfort, like a blanket that hides reality; true stability belongs to those whose happiness arises from discernment, who transcend dualities and abandon envy, so that gain and loss no longer disturb them.
In the Shanti Parva’s didactic setting, a brahmin speaker contrasts two types of people: the ignorant person who rests easily because he does not reflect on the moral consequences of his actions, and the wise person whose knowledge-born contentment makes him unshaken by prosperity or adversity.