Shloka 18
देवतापितृप्रश्नः — Nārada at Badarīāśrama: the ultimate referent of daiva and pitṛ worship
मृत्युनाभ्याहते लोके जरया परिपीडिते । अमोघासु पतन्न्तीषु धर्मपोतेन संतर
mṛtyunābhyāhate loke jarayā paripīḍite | amoghāsu patantīṣu dharmapotena saṃtara ||
Di dunia yang dihantam Maut dan ditindas usia tua, ketika panah-panah yang tak meleset terus berjatuhan, menyeberanglah dengan perahu Dharma.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Life is inevitably assailed by death and worn down by old age; therefore one should rely on Dharma as the sure means to ‘cross over’ suffering and peril—ethical living becomes the vessel that carries one through the inescapable conditions of human existence.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa delivers a concise exhortation: seeing the world as continually struck by death and age, he urges the listener to take refuge in Dharma, metaphorically boarding its ‘boat’ to traverse the dangers of worldly life.