Mahabharata 3.37.29 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 37, Shloka 29
Vyāsa’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira: Pratismṛti-vidyā, Arjuna’s Aśtra-Quest, and the Move to Kāmyaka
रंस्यन्ते वीर कर्माणि कथयन्तः पुन: पुनः । नैव नः पार्थ भोगेषु न धने नोत जीविते
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
raṁsyante vīra-karmāṇi kathayantaḥ punaḥ punaḥ |
aiva naḥ pārtha bhogeṣu na dhane nota jīvite ||
അവർ വീണ്ടും വീണ്ടും നിന്റെ വീരകൃത്യങ്ങൾ പറഞ്ഞുകൊണ്ടുതന്നെ അല്പം ആശ്വാസം കണ്ടെത്തും. ഹേ പാർഥാ! നീ ദീർഘകാലം അകലെ പോയാൽ ഞങ്ങളുടെ മനസ്സ് ഭോഗങ്ങളിലും ധനത്തിലും മാത്രമല്ല, ജീവിതത്തിലുപോലും ആനന്ദിക്കുകയില്ല.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a community’s moral and emotional stability can rest on the presence of a virtuous, heroic person: when such a figure is absent, ordinary sources of satisfaction—pleasure, wealth, even life—lose their meaning, and remembrance of noble deeds becomes a means of endurance.
In the Vana Parva context, Arjuna (Pārtha) is away for an extended purpose, and those left behind express that they will cope by repeatedly speaking of his valor; without him, they feel no joy in pleasures, riches, or even continued living.
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