Shloka 20

Saṃsāra-Gahana Allegory: The Brāhmaṇa in the Forest and Well (संसारगहन-आख्यान)

Devanagari script

न चास्य जीविते राजन्‌ निर्वेद: समजायत

Transliteration

na cāsya jīvite rājan nirvedaḥ samajāyata

Translation

ໂອ ພະຣາຊາ! ຕໍ່ຊີວິດຂອງເຂົາເອງ ບໍ່ມີຄວາມເບື່ອໜ່າຍຫຼືຄວາມສຳນຶກຜິດເກີດຂຶ້ນເລີຍ; ແມ່ນແຕ່ຫຼັງຈາກເຫດການທີ່ເກີດຂຶ້ນ ເຂົາກໍບໍ່ຫັນໃຈເຂົ້າຂ້າງໃນ ດ້ວຍການກັບໃຈ ຫຼືຄວາມວາງວຽງ (ໄວຣາກຍະ) ແຕ່ຢ່າງໃດ.

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• च: and/also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अस्य: of him/this (his)
• अस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: masculine/neuter, genitive, singular

• जीविते: in (his) life
• जीविते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जीवित
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

• राजन्: O king
• राजन्: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• निर्वेदः: despair/disgust (with life)
• निर्वेदः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: निर्वेद
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• समजायत: arose/came to be
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन्
• Form: imperfect (laṅ), 3rd, singular, ātmanepada

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• King (rājan)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura highlights a moral failure: even after catastrophic events, a person may remain untouched by remorse or dispassion. The verse implies that ethical awakening is shown by nirveda—an inner turning away from wrongdoing and worldly fixation—without which reform and dharmic clarity do not arise.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Strī Parva, amid grief and reckoning after the war, Vidura addresses the king and comments on a particular person’s inner state: despite the situation, no nirveda arose in him regarding his own life, indicating continued attachment or lack of repentance.