Shloka 25
अरण्यवृत्ति-वैराग्योपदेशः | Forest Discipline and the Program of Non-Attachment
जीवितं मरणं चैव नाभिनन्दन्न च द्विषन् । वास्यैकं तक्षतों बाहुं चन्दनेनैकमुक्षत:
jīvitaṃ maraṇaṃ caiva nābhinandan na ca dviṣan | vāsyaikaṃ takṣato bāhuṃ candanenaikam ukṣataḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Devant la vie et la mort pareillement, il ne se réjouissait ni ne haïssait. Tandis qu’on lui tranchait un bras, il enduisait l’autre de pâte de santal.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights steadfast equanimity and non-hatred: a truly disciplined person does not exult in life nor recoil into hatred in the face of death or injury, maintaining inner balance even amid extreme suffering.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes an exemplar of composure: as one arm is being severed, the person calmly applies sandal paste to the other, illustrating an unshaken mind that neither celebrates nor despises the conditions of life and death.