Shloka 22

राजधर्मः—राष्ट्ररक्षणं, दण्डनीतिः, हयग्रीवोपाख्यानम्

Royal Duty: Protection, Penal Policy, and the Hayagrīva Exemplum

Devanagari script

दुःखमेवास्ति न सुखं तस्मात्‌ तदुपलभ्यते । तृष्णार्तिप्रभवं दुःखं दुःखार्तिप्रभवं सुखम्‌,'संसारमें केवल दुःख ही है, सुख नहीं, अतः दुःख ही उपलब्ध होता है। तृष्णाजनित पीड़ासे दु:ख और दुःखकी पीड़ासे सुख होता है अर्थात्‌ दुःखसे आर्त हुए मनुष्यको ही उसके न रहनेपर सुखकी प्रतीति होती है

Transliteration

duḥkham evāsti na sukhaṃ tasmāt tad upalabhyate | tṛṣṇārtiprabhavaṃ duḥkhaṃ duḥkhārtiprabhavaṃ sukham ||

Translation

Vyāsa dit : «Dans l’existence mondaine, il n’y a que souffrance, non pas bonheur véritable ; c’est donc la souffrance que l’on rencontre en vérité. La souffrance naît de la douleur issue du désir, et ce qu’on appelle “bonheur” naît de la douleur de la souffrance : lorsqu’on a été accablé par la misère, la simple absence de cette misère est éprouvée comme bonheur.»

Word by Word

दुःखम्sorrow, suffering

एवonly, indeed

अस्तिis, exists

नnot

सुखम्happiness, pleasure

तस्मात्therefore, from that

तत्that (i.e., that sorrow)

उपलभ्यतेis obtained, is experienced

तृष्णाby craving, by thirst (desire)

आर्तिby pain, distress

प्रभवम्arising from, originating in

दुःखम्sorrow

दुःखby sorrow

आर्तिby distress

प्रभवम्arising from

सुखम्happiness

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse argues that in saṃsāra what people call ‘happiness’ is mostly relief: craving (tṛṣṇā) produces distress and suffering, and when suffering subsides one mistakes that cessation for happiness. Ethically, it points toward reducing craving and cultivating detachment as a path to steadier well-being.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and right living after the war, Vyāsa delivers a reflective teaching on the nature of worldly experience, analyzing why beings repeatedly encounter suffering and why ordinary happiness is often only the temporary easing of pain.