Shloka 10
Saṃsāra-mārga-vistaraḥ
Vidura’s Expanded Account of the Path
शब्दरूपरसस्पर्शर्गन्चैश्ष विविधैरपि । मज्जमांसमहापड्के निरालम्बे समन्ततः
śabdarūparasasparśagandhaiś ca vividhair api | majjamāṃsamahāpaṅke nirālambhe samantataḥ ||
ശബ്ദം, രൂപം, രസം, സ്പർശം, ഗന്ധം—ഇവയുടെ നാനാവിധതകളുടെ നടുവിലും (മനുഷ്യൻ) മജ്ജയും മാംസവും നിറഞ്ഞ മഹാ ചെളിയിൽ മുങ്ങി, എല്ലാടവും ആശ്രയമില്ലാതെ നിലകൊള്ളുന്നു।
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sense-pleasures (sound, form, taste, touch, smell) entice the mind, but attachment to them keeps one trapped in the unstable, bodily condition—likened to a mire of flesh and marrow—so one should cultivate detachment and steadiness in dharma rather than seek support in transient pleasures.
In the Stree Parva’s atmosphere of mourning after the war, Vidura speaks in a reflective, admonitory tone, using stark bodily imagery to highlight the fragility and impurity of embodied life and to redirect attention from sensory fascination toward moral and spiritual grounding.