Shloka 16
अध्याय ३३१: नारायणकथा-प्रशंसा तथा नारदस्य श्वेतद्वीप-निवृत्ति एवं बदरी-आगमनम् | Chapter 331: Praise of the Nārāyaṇa Narrative; Nārada’s Return from Śvetadvīpa and Arrival at Badarī
सुखाद् बहुतरं दुःखं जीविते नात्र संशय: । स्निग्धत्वं चेन्द्रियार्थेषु मोहान्मरणमप्रियम्
sukhād bahutaraṃ duḥkhaṃ jīvite nātra saṃśayaḥ | snigdhatvaṃ cendriyārtheṣu mohān maraṇam apriyam ||
नारद बोले—इस जीवन में सुख की अपेक्षा दुःख ही अधिक है, इसमें संदेह नहीं। फिर भी मोहवश प्राणी इन्द्रिय-विषयों में अनुराग रखते हैं, और इसलिए मृत्यु उन्हें अप्रिय लगती है।
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Life in saṃsāra contains more suffering than pleasure; nevertheless, delusion makes one cling to sense-objects, and that attachment makes death seem hateful. The ethical thrust is to recognize moha and cultivate detachment and clarity.
Nārada is instructing the listener in a reflective, didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, emphasizing the imbalance of duḥkha over sukha in worldly life and explaining why beings still fear death—because of attachment born of delusion.