Shloka 20
शोक-शमन उपदेशः
Instruction on the Pacification of Grief
राजन! नरेश्वर! जैसे क्रीडाके लिये पानीमें तैरता हुआ कोई प्राणी कभी डूबता है और कभी ऊपर आ जाता है, इसी प्रकार इस अगाध संसार-समुद्रमें जीवोंका डूबना और उतराना (मरना और जन्म लेना) लगा रहता है, मन्दबुद्धि मनुष्य ही यहाँ कर्मभोगसे बँधते और वष्ट पाते हैं ।। ये तु प्राज्ञा: स्थिता: सत्त्वे संसारेडस्मिन् हितैषिण: । समागमज्ञा भूतानां ते यान्ति परमां गतिम्
rājan! nareśvara! yathā krīḍārthaṁ jalasmin tairayan kaścid prāṇī kadācid nimajjati kadācid uttiṣṭhati, tathā asmin agādhe saṁsāra-samudre jīvānāṁ nimajjanam uttiṣṭhanaṁ ca (maraṇaṁ janma ca) satataṁ pravartate; mandabuddhaya eva iha karmabhogena badhyante vinaśyanti ca. ye tu prājñāḥ sthitāḥ sattve saṁsāre ’smin hitaiṣiṇaḥ, samāgamajñā bhūtānāṁ te yānti paramāṁ gatim.
Vidura said: “O king, lord of men! Just as a creature, swimming in water for sport, now sinks and now rises again, so too in this unfathomable ocean of worldly existence beings continually go under and come up—dying and being born. It is only the dull-witted who, here, become bound by the experience of their own deeds and come to ruin. But those who are wise, established in purity, well-wishers within this world, and who understand the coming-together and parting of beings—such persons attain the highest goal.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura teaches that repeated birth and death are like sinking and rising in an ocean; bondage comes from dullness and entanglement in the enjoyment of karmic results, while the wise—grounded in sattva, benevolent, and understanding the transient nature of associations—move toward the highest end.
In the Stree Parva’s aftermath of the war, Vidura addresses the king with counsel: he frames the devastation and human loss within the larger cycle of saṁsāra, urging a shift from grief-bound delusion to clear discernment, ethical goodwill, and spiritual steadiness.