Shloka 121
तुल्ये प्रियाप्रिये यस्य सुखदुःखे तथैव च । अतीतानागते चोभे स वै सर्वधनी नर:,जो मनुष्य प्रिय-अप्रिय, सुख-दुःख और भूत-भविष्यत्--इन द्वद्धोंमें सम है, वही सबसे बड़ा धनी है
tulye priyāpriye yasya sukhaduḥkhe tathaiva ca | atītānāgate cobhe sa vai sarvadhanī naraḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “That person is truly the richest who remains even-minded in what is dear and what is not dear, in pleasure and in pain, and likewise toward both the past and the future.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True wealth is inner steadiness: the ability to remain balanced amid praise and blame, pleasure and pain, and even in one’s relation to memories of the past and anxieties about the future. Such equanimity is presented as a higher ‘wealth’ than external possessions.
In the Vana Parva’s forest setting, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a dharmic reflection on what constitutes real prosperity. The statement functions as moral instruction: redefining ‘richness’ as mental poise rather than material accumulation.