Shloka 7
शोक-शमन उपदेशः
Instruction on the Pacification of Grief
येन प्रत्यवगच्छेयु: कुलरूपविशेषणम् | कस्मादन्योन्यमिच्छन्ति विप्रलब्धधियो नरा:,जब दिद्वान्-मूर्ख, धनवान् और निर्धन सभी श्मशान-भूमिमें जाकर निश्चिन्त सो जाते हैं, उस समय उनके मांसरहित नाड़ियोंसे बँधे हुए तथा अस्थिबहुल अंगोंको देखकर क्या दूसरे लोग वहाँ उनमें कोई ऐसा अन्तर देख पाते हैं, जिससे वे उनके कुल और रूपकी विशेषताको समझ सकें; फिर भी वे मनुष्य एक-दूसरेको क्यों चाहते हैं? इसलिये कि उनकी बुद्धि ठगी गयी है
yena pratyavagaccheyuḥ kularūpaviśeṣaṇam | kasmād anyonyam icchanti vipralabdhadhiyo narāḥ ||
Vidura said: By what sign could people truly discern distinctions of lineage and beauty? When the learned and the foolish, the wealthy and the poor alike go to the cremation-ground and lie down there without care, who can perceive any difference among them—seeing bodies reduced to bone-filled limbs, held together only by sinews stripped of flesh? And yet human beings still desire one another. It is because their understanding has been deceived.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
All social distinctions—beauty, status, wealth, even pride in lineage—collapse before death; attachment and mutual craving persist only because the mind is deluded about what is truly lasting and meaningful.
In the grief-filled context of the Strī Parva, Vidura offers a sobering reflection: at the cremation-ground the learned and ignorant, rich and poor appear the same, so the usual bases for attraction and pride are exposed as illusions.