Shloka 8

अध्याय २६ — युद्ध-निन्दा, काम-दोष, तथा धार्तराष्ट्र-नीति-विश्लेषण

War-aversion, Desire as a Policy Fault, and Analysis of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Governance

Devanagari script

सुखप्रिये सेवमानो 5तिवेलं योगाभ्यासे यो न करोति कर्म । वित्तक्षये हीनसुखो5तिवेलं दुःखं शेते कामवेगप्रणुन्न:

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

sukhapriye sevamāno 'tivelaṃ yogābhyāse yo na karoti karma |

vittakṣaye hīnasukho 'tivelaṃ duḥkhaṃ śete kāmavegapraṇunnaḥ ||

Translation

સંજય બોલ્યો—જે મનુષ્ય સુખપ્રિય બની ભોગોમાં અતિશય લિપ્ત રહે છે અને યોગાભ્યાસને સહાયક એવા કર્તવ્યકર્મ કરતો નથી, તે ધન ક્ષય થતાં સુખથી વંચિત થાય છે. કામવેગથી ધકેલાઈ વ્યાકુળ બની, તે વારંવાર દુઃખની શય્યા પર પડી રહે છે.

Word by Word

• {'sukhapriya': 'fond of pleasure

• pleasure-loving', 'sevamānaḥ': 'indulging in

• continually resorting to', 'ativelam': 'excessively

• beyond proper measure', 'yogābhyāsa': 'practice of yoga

• disciplined spiritual cultivation', 'karma': 'duty/action

• prescribed conduct', 'vittakṣaya': 'loss/exhaustion of wealth', 'hīnasukha': 'deprived of happiness

• lacking joy', 'duḥkham': 'sorrow

• suffering', 'śete': 'lies down

• remains (as if reclining) in', 'kāmavega': 'impulse/force of desire', 'praṇunnaḥ': 'driven

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Excessive indulgence in pleasures without performing disciplined, duty-based action (karma supportive of yogic practice) leads to ruin: when wealth ends, happiness collapses, and unchecked desire becomes a torment that keeps one trapped in suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya delivers a moral observation within the Udyoga Parva’s counsel-filled setting: he describes the fate of a pleasure-addicted person—neglecting yogic discipline and proper duties—who, after financial decline, is overwhelmed by desire and lives in continual misery.