Shloka 136
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 60: Arjuna’s return, auspicious omens, and mission delegation
अयज्वानमदाक्षिण्यमश्रि श्रैत्येत्युदाहरत् । वैत्य सुंजय! वे भगीरथ उपर्युक्त चारों बातोंमें तुमसे बहुत बढ़कर थे। तुम्हारे पुत्रकी अपेक्षा उनका पुण्य बहुत अधिक था। जब वे भी जीवित न रह सके, तब दूसरोंकी तो बात ही क्या है? अतः तुम यज्ञानुष्ठान और दान-दक्षिणासे रहित अपने पुत्रके लिये शोक न करो। नारदजीने राजा सूंजयसे यही बात कही
ayajvān amādākṣiṇyam aśrīśraity ety udāharat | vaity suñjaya! bhagīratha uparyukta cāroṃ bātoṃ meṃ tumase bahut baṛhkar the | tumhāre putra kī apekṣā unakā puṇya bahut adhik thā | jab ve bhī jīvita na rah sake, tab dūsroṃ kī to bāt hī kyā hai | ataḥ tuma yajñānuṣṭhāna aura dāna-dakṣiṇā se rahita apane putra ke liye śoka na karo | nāradajī ne rājā suñjaya se yahī bāt kahī
Narada said: “O Suñjaya, people cite as blame the man who performs no sacrifice, gives no priestly fee, and lives without prosperity or sacred learning. Yet even Bhagiratha—far superior to you in these four respects, and far more meritorious than your son—could not remain alive. If such a one could not escape death, what need be said of others? Therefore do not grieve for your son, who was without sacrificial observance and gifts of charity and fees.” Thus Narada instructed King Suñjaya.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the most meritorious and ritually accomplished persons cannot avoid death; therefore grief should be restrained and aligned with dharma, rather than intensified by attachment.
Narada counsels King Suñjaya, using Bhagiratha as an illustrative example, to curb his lamentation for his son by pointing to the inevitability of death and the limits of worldly and ritual attainments.