Shloka 5

Devanagari script

ये चैनं॑ पक्षमाश्रित्य निवर्तन्त्यल्पमेधस: । स्वभावं कारणं ज्ञात्वा न श्रेय: प्राप्तुवन्ति ते,जो मन्दबुद्धि मानव इस नास्तिक मतका अवलम्बन करके स्वभावहीको कारण जानकर परमेश्वरकी उपासनासे निवृत्त हो जाते हैं, वे कल्याणके भागी नहीं होते

Transliteration

ye cainaṁ pakṣam āśritya nivartanty alpamedhasaḥ | svabhāvaṁ kāraṇaṁ jñātvā na śreyaḥ prāptuvanti te ||

Translation

व्यास म्हणाले—अल्पबुद्धी लोक या मताचा आश्रय घेऊन स्वभावालाच एकमेव कारण मानून परमेश्वराच्या उपासनेपासून परावृत्त होतात; ते खरे श्रेय प्राप्त करत नाहीत.

Word by Word

येwho (those who)

चand

एनम्this (him/it)

पक्षम्side; view; doctrine

आश्रित्यhaving resorted to; relying on

निवर्तन्तिthey turn back; desist

अल्पमेधसःof little understanding; dull-witted

स्वभावम्nature; inherent disposition

कारणम्cause

ज्ञात्वाhaving known; considering as known

नnot

श्रेयःthe good; welfare; highest good

प्राप्तुवन्तिthey obtain; attain

तेthey (those)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Merely attributing everything to svabhāva (nature) and abandoning reverent striving for the highest good is portrayed as an error of limited understanding; such a stance blocks śreyas—lasting welfare and spiritual good.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa warns against a particular doctrinal ‘side’ (pakṣa): a naturalistic/atheistic view that treats nature alone as the cause and leads people to withdraw from worship and higher pursuit; he states that such people fail to attain true well-being.