Shloka 30

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)

Devanagari script

बुद्‌बुदा इव तोयेषु भवन्ति न भवन्ति च | जैसे पानीमें बुलबुले होते और मिट जाते हैं, उसी प्रकार संसारमें उत्पन्न हुए प्राणियोंके जो आपसमें संयोग होते हैं, उनका अन्त निश्चय ही वियोगमें होता है ।। सर्वे क्षयान्ता निचया: पतनान्ता: समुच्छुया:

Transliteration

budbudā iva toyeṣu bhavanti na bhavanti ca | sarve kṣayāntā nicayāḥ patanāntāḥ samucchrayāḥ ||

Translation

Vyāsa dit : «Tels des bulles à la surface de l’eau, les êtres apparaissent et s’évanouissent. De même, toutes les unions formées entre les créatures en ce monde s’achèvent infailliblement en séparation. Toute accumulation finit en perte, et toute élévation finit en chute.»

Word by Word

बुद्बुदाःbubbles

इवlike/as

तोयेषुin waters

भवन्तिcome to be/arise

नnot

भवन्तिcease to be/are not (remain)

चand

सर्वेall

क्षयान्ताःhaving destruction as the end

निचयाःaccumulations/heaps/collections

पतनान्ताःhaving falling as the end

समुच्छ्रयाःelevations/risings/lofty structures

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

All worldly formations—life, relationships, wealth, and status—are transient. Since union inevitably ends in separation, one should cultivate detachment, steadiness, and dharmic conduct without clinging to impermanent outcomes.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and right understanding after the war, Vyāsa delivers a reflective teaching using the image of water-bubbles to emphasize the inevitability of change, loss, and separation in saṃsāra.