Shloka 14
Aśoka-śāstra: Nārada’s Instruction on the Cessation of Śoka
Grief
शवगन्धमुपाघ्राति सुरभिं प्राप्पय यो नर:
śavagandham upāghrāti surabhiṁ prāpya yo naraḥ
याज्ञवल्क्य म्हणाले—जो मनुष्य सुगंधाजवळ पोहोचूनही प्रेताची दुर्गंधीच श्वासात घेतो, त्याची रुची विकृत आहे आणि मन अशुचितेचा सरावलेला आहे। म्हणून घृणास्पदापासून दूर होऊन शुद्ध व हितकर गोष्टींकडे मन लावावे।
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a stark contrast—corpse-stench versus fragrance—to teach ethical discernment: a well-trained mind turns away from the foul and chooses what is pure and beneficial; clinging to impurity even when the good is available indicates distorted values and lack of self-mastery.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, Yājñavalkya delivers a moral illustration. He describes a person who, despite encountering something fragrant, prefers to smell a corpse-stench—an example meant to critique misguided attachment and to encourage cultivation of purity and right preference.