Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 47

नरनारायण-नारदसंवादः

Nara-Nārāyaṇa–Nārada Discourse on Vision, Elements, and Entry into Vāsudeva

Devanagari script

पुत्रदारैर्महान्‌ क्लेशो विद्याम्नाये महान्‌ श्रम: । कि नु स्याच्छाश्व॒तं स्थानमल्पक्लेशं महोदयम्‌

Transliteration

putradārair mahān kleśo vidyāmnāye mahān śramaḥ | ki nu syāc chāśvataṃ sthānam alpakleśaṃ mahodayam ||

Translation

पुत्र और दारा के बंधन में पड़ने से बड़ा क्लेश होता है; और विद्या के अभ्यास-परंपरा में भी महान परिश्रम है। फिर वह कौन-सा उपाय है जिससे शाश्वत पद प्राप्त हो—जहाँ क्लेश अल्प हो, पर अभ्युदय महान हो?

Word by Word

• {'putra-dāraiḥ': 'by/through sons and wife

• family ties (instrumental plural)', 'mahān': 'great, intense', 'kleśaḥ': 'affliction, distress, suffering, trouble', 'vidyā-āmnāye': 'in the tradition/recitation and disciplined study of knowledge

• the received corpus of learning', 'śramaḥ': 'labor, exertion, strenuous effort', 'kim nu': 'what indeed?, how then?', 'syāt': 'might be, could be (optative of √as)', 'śāśvatam': 'eternal, everlasting', 'sthānam': 'state, station, abode, goal', 'alpa-kleśam': 'with little hardship

• minimally painful', 'mahā-udayam': 'having great rise/prosperity

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a classic ethical-spiritual inquiry: worldly responsibilities and even scholarly pursuits can be burdensome; therefore one should seek a path that leads to the eternal good (śāśvataṃ sthānam) with minimal suffering and maximal true uplift—pointing toward inner discipline, detachment, and liberation-oriented dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada, speaking in the Śānti Parva’s reflective setting, articulates a seeker’s dilemma: family entanglements bring heavy anxiety, and rigorous learning demands great effort. He asks what practical means exists to reach the everlasting goal with comparatively little hardship and great benefit.