Shloka 47

नरनारायण-नारदसंवादः

Nara-Nārāyaṇa–Nārada Discourse on Vision, Elements, and Entry into Vāsudeva

Devanagari script

पुत्रदारैर्महान्‌ क्लेशो विद्याम्नाये महान्‌ श्रम: । कि नु स्याच्छाश्व॒तं स्थानमल्पक्लेशं महोदयम्‌,वे सोचने लगे, स्त्री-पुत्रोंके झमेलेमें पड़नेसे महान्‌ क्लेश होगा। विद्याभ्यासमें भी बहुत अधिक परिश्रम है। कौन-सा ऐसा उपाय है, जिससे सनातन पद प्राप्त हो जाय। उस साधनमें क्लेश तो थोड़ा हो, किन्तु अभ्युदय महान्‌ हो

Transliteration

putradārair mahān kleśo vidyāmnāye mahān śramaḥ | ki nu syāc chāśvataṃ sthānam alpakleśaṃ mahodayam ||

Translation

पुत्र-दारांच्या बंधनात मोठा क्लेश आहे; आणि विद्येच्या अभ्यास-परंपरेतही मोठा श्रम आहे. मग असा कोणता उपाय आहे की ज्याने शाश्वत पद प्राप्त होईल—क्लेश अल्प आणि अभ्युदय महान?

Word by Word

• {'putra-dāraiḥ': 'by/through sons and wife

• family ties (instrumental plural)', 'mahān': 'great, intense', 'kleśaḥ': 'affliction, distress, suffering, trouble', 'vidyā-āmnāye': 'in the tradition/recitation and disciplined study of knowledge

• the received corpus of learning', 'śramaḥ': 'labor, exertion, strenuous effort', 'kim nu': 'what indeed?, how then?', 'syāt': 'might be, could be (optative of √as)', 'śāśvatam': 'eternal, everlasting', 'sthānam': 'state, station, abode, goal', 'alpa-kleśam': 'with little hardship

• minimally painful', 'mahā-udayam': 'having great rise/prosperity

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a classic ethical-spiritual inquiry: worldly responsibilities and even scholarly pursuits can be burdensome; therefore one should seek a path that leads to the eternal good (śāśvataṃ sthānam) with minimal suffering and maximal true uplift—pointing toward inner discipline, detachment, and liberation-oriented dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada, speaking in the Śānti Parva’s reflective setting, articulates a seeker’s dilemma: family entanglements bring heavy anxiety, and rigorous learning demands great effort. He asks what practical means exists to reach the everlasting goal with comparatively little hardship and great benefit.