Shloka 16
अज्ञान–लोभयोः परस्परहेतुत्वम्
Mutual Causality of Ignorance and Greed
न हास्ति सर्वभूतेषु दुः:खमस्मिन् कुत: सुखम् । एवं प्रकृतिभूतानां सर्वसंसर्गयायिनाम्
na hāsti sarvabhūteṣu duḥkham asmin kutaḥ sukham | evaṃ prakṛtibhūtānāṃ sarvasaṃsargayāyinām ||
シャウナカは言った。「この世において、あらゆる生きものの間に苦が欠けることはない。ならば、いかにして楽が確かなものとなろうか。これこそ身を受けた者たちの本性である。彼らはあらゆる交わりと接触を経ねばならず、その接触とともに避けがたい痛みが来る。快楽はただ束の間にすぎない。」
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Happiness is not a guaranteed, stable state for embodied beings because contact and association (saṃsarga) are unavoidable, and with them come inevitable forms of suffering; therefore one should cultivate realism, restraint, and detachment rather than expecting unbroken pleasure.
In the Shānti Parva’s reflective discourse, Śaunaka voices a general philosophical observation about the condition of living beings: life necessarily involves continual interactions and attachments, making suffering inescapable and happiness intermittent.