Shloka 8

अध्याय २६ — युद्ध-निन्दा, काम-दोष, तथा धार्तराष्ट्र-नीति-विश्लेषण

War-aversion, Desire as a Policy Fault, and Analysis of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Governance

Devanagari script

सुखप्रिये सेवमानो 5तिवेलं योगाभ्यासे यो न करोति कर्म । वित्तक्षये हीनसुखो5तिवेलं दुःखं शेते कामवेगप्रणुन्न:

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

sukhapriye sevamāno 'tivelaṃ yogābhyāse yo na karoti karma |

vittakṣaye hīnasukho 'tivelaṃ duḥkhaṃ śete kāmavegapraṇunnaḥ ||

Translation

സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—സുഖപ്രിയനായി ഭോഗങ്ങളിൽ അതിരുകടന്ന് ലീനനായി, യോഗാഭ്യാസത്തെ പോഷിപ്പിക്കുന്ന കര്‍ത്തവ്യകർമ്മങ്ങൾ ചെയ്യാത്തവൻ, ധനം ക്ഷയിക്കുമ്പോൾ സുഖം നഷ്ടപ്പെടുന്നു. കാമവേഗം തള്ളിനീക്കുന്ന കലുഷിതനായി, അവൻ വീണ്ടും വീണ്ടും ദുഃഖശയ്യയിൽ വീഴുന്നു.

Word by Word

• {'sukhapriya': 'fond of pleasure

• pleasure-loving', 'sevamānaḥ': 'indulging in

• continually resorting to', 'ativelam': 'excessively

• beyond proper measure', 'yogābhyāsa': 'practice of yoga

• disciplined spiritual cultivation', 'karma': 'duty/action

• prescribed conduct', 'vittakṣaya': 'loss/exhaustion of wealth', 'hīnasukha': 'deprived of happiness

• lacking joy', 'duḥkham': 'sorrow

• suffering', 'śete': 'lies down

• remains (as if reclining) in', 'kāmavega': 'impulse/force of desire', 'praṇunnaḥ': 'driven

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Excessive indulgence in pleasures without performing disciplined, duty-based action (karma supportive of yogic practice) leads to ruin: when wealth ends, happiness collapses, and unchecked desire becomes a torment that keeps one trapped in suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya delivers a moral observation within the Udyoga Parva’s counsel-filled setting: he describes the fate of a pleasure-addicted person—neglecting yogic discipline and proper duties—who, after financial decline, is overwhelmed by desire and lives in continual misery.