Shloka 119
Śoka-śamana: Kṛṣṇa’s Consolation and Nārada’s Exempla to Sṛñjaya
Chapter 29
“पुरुषप्रवर नरेश! गंगाजीमें जितने बालूके कण हैं, अमूर्तरयाके पुत्र गयने उतनी ही गौओंका दान किया था ।।
puruṣa-pravara nareśa! gaṅgāyāṁ yāvanto vālukā-kaṇāḥ santi, amūrtarayāḥ putro gayo 'pi tāvattīr gāvaḥ dānam adāt. sa cen mamāra, sṛñjaya, caturbhadra-taraḥ tvayā; putrāt puṇyataraś caiva—mā putram anutapyathāḥ.
Vāyu dit : «Ô premier des hommes, ô roi ! Autant il y a de grains de sable dans la Gaṅgā, autant de vaches Gaya, fils d’Amūrtarayā, donna jadis en charité. Et pourtant il mourut, ô Sṛñjaya, bien qu’il te surpassât en quatre vertus de bon augure et fût de beaucoup plus grand mérite que ton fils. Si un tel homme n’a pu échapper à la mort, que dire de ton fils ? Ne le pleure donc pas.»
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the most virtuous and highly meritorious persons—renowned for immense charity—are subject to death; therefore grief over a loved one’s death should be moderated by understanding the inevitability of mortality and the limits of human control.
Vāyudeva addresses King Sṛñjaya, consoling him for the death of his son by citing the example of Gaya, famed for giving countless cows in charity, who nevertheless died; the comparison is used to urge Sṛñjaya to relinquish sorrow.