Shloka 7
Sahadeva on Attachment (mamatā), ‘mameti/na mameti’, and the Middle Path of Conduct
अथापि च सहोत्पत्ति: सत्त्वस्य प्रलयस्तथा । नष्टे शरीरे नष्ट: स्याद् वृथा च स्यात् क्रियापथ:,इसके विपरीत यदि शरीरके साथ ही जीवकी उत्पत्ति तथा उसके नष्ट होनेके साथ ही जीवका नाश होना माना जाय तब तो शरीर नष्ट होनेपर जीव भी नष्ट ही हो जायगा; उस दशामें सारा वैदिक कर्ममार्ग ही व्यर्थ सिद्ध होगा
athāpi ca sahotpattiḥ sattvasya pralayas tathā | naṣṭe śarīre naṣṭaḥ syād vṛthā ca syāt kriyāpathaḥ ||
Sahadeva berkata: “Namun jika ada yang mendakwa bahawa diri yang hidup lahir hanya bersama tubuh, dan turut lenyap apabila tubuh lenyap—maka apabila tubuh musnah, diri pun musnah. Dalam keadaan itu, seluruh jalan karma menurut Veda akan terbukti sia-sia.”
सहदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sahadeva argues that if the self were born with the body and ended with the body, then Vedic duties and rites aimed at unseen results (merit, afterlife, moral order) would lose their rationale; thus the view that consciousness ends at death undermines the meaningfulness of the Vedic karmic framework.
Within the Shanti Parva’s reflective discussions on dharma and ultimate reality, Sahadeva presents a philosophical objection to a materialist/annihilationist position: he shows that equating the self’s fate entirely with the body’s destruction would make the established path of Vedic action appear pointless.