Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 9
अध्याय २८६ — पराशर-उपदेशः
Ethical Restraint, Mortality, and Karma
सहस्रिणो5पि जीवन्ति जीवन्ति शतिनस्तथा । शाकेन चान्ये जीवन्ति पश्यास्मानपि जीवत:
sahasriṇo 'pi jīvanti jīvanti śatino tathā | śākena cānye jīvanti paśyāsmān api jīvataḥ ||
ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਕੋਲ ਹਜ਼ਾਰਾਂ ਹਨ ਉਹ ਵੀ ਜੀਊਂਦੇ ਹਨ; ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਕੋਲ ਸੈਂਕੜੇ ਹਨ ਉਹ ਵੀ ਓਸੇ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਜੀਊਂਦੇ ਹਨ। ਕੁਝ ਲੋਕ ਸਾਗ-ਪੱਤਿਆਂ ਨਾਲ ਹੀ ਗੁਜ਼ਾਰਾ ਕਰ ਲੈਂਦੇ ਹਨ—ਇਸੇ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਸਾਨੂੰ ਵੀ ਜੀਊਂਦੇ ਤੇ ਆਪਣੇ ਆਪ ਨੂੰ ਨਿਭਾਉਣ ਜੋਗ ਸਮਝੋ।
समड़ उवाच
Educational Q&A
That mere survival and a worthy life are not guaranteed by wealth: the rich live, the moderately wealthy live, and even those who subsist on simple greens live. Therefore one should not measure life’s value by possessions; contentment and simple means can sustain life.
The speaker argues against equating well-being with riches, pointing out that people live at many economic levels. By saying “consider us too as living,” he asserts the legitimacy and sufficiency of a simple livelihood, likely to counter pressure, contempt, or demands rooted in wealth.