Shloka 63
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
न जातु कामाजन्न भयान्न लोभाद् धर्म त्यजेज्जीवितस्यापि हेतो: । नित्यो धर्म: सुखदुः:खे त्वनित्ये जीवो नित्यो हेतुरस्य त्वनित्य:,“कामनासे, भयसे, लोभसे अथवा प्राण बचानेके लिये भी धर्मका त्याग न करे। धर्म नित्य है और सुख-दुःख अनित्य। इसी प्रकार जीवात्मा नित्य है और उसके बन्धनका हेतु अनित्य'
na jātu kāmāj na bhayān na lobhād dharmaṁ tyajej jīvitasya api hetoḥ | nityo dharmaḥ sukha-duḥkhe tv anitye jīvo nityo hetur asya tv anityaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: One should never abandon dharma—whether out of desire, fear, or greed, nor even for the sake of preserving one’s life. Dharma is enduring, while pleasure and pain are transient. Likewise, the self is enduring, and the cause of its bondage is transient.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma must not be sacrificed under pressure from desire, fear, greed, or even the instinct for self-preservation. The verse grounds this in a metaphysical contrast: dharma and the self are enduring, whereas pleasure/pain and the factors that bind the self are transient—so one should not trade the lasting for the fleeting.
In Svargārohaṇa Parva, Vaiśaṃpāyana continues the concluding instruction-like narration, emphasizing the Mahābhārata’s ethical summation: steadfastness in dharma despite extreme trials, and a final perspective that relativizes worldly suffering and attachment by pointing to impermanence.