Shloka 27
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
पुत्रनाशे वित्तनाशे ज्ञातिसम्बन्धिनामपि । प्राप्पते सुमहद् दुखं दावाग्निप्रतिमं विभो । दैवायत्तमिदं सर्व सुखदुःखे भवाभवौ
putranāśe vittanāśe jñātisambandhinām api | prāpnoti sumahad duḥkhaṃ dāvāgnipratimaṃ vibho | daivāyattam idaṃ sarvaṃ sukhaduḥkhe bhavābhavau ||
Sang Brāhmaṇa berkata: Ketika anak hilang, ketika harta lenyap, bahkan ketika ikatan dengan sanak-kerabat terputus, timbullah duka yang amat besar, membakar laksana api rimba, wahai yang mulia. Namun semua ini bergantung pada takdir: suka dan duka, juga naik-turun dalam keberadaan duniawi.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the intensity of grief caused by loss (child, wealth, kinship) and frames such experiences as governed by daiva (destiny), urging a reflective, less ego-centered response to happiness and suffering and to one’s worldly rise and decline.
In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, a Brāhmaṇa speaker addresses a powerful listener (“vibho”), describing how devastating losses ignite grief like a forest fire, then broadens the point into a moral-philosophical reflection that life’s gains and reversals are fate-dependent.