Shloka 23
रावण–मारीचसंवादः तथा मृगप्रलोभनपूर्वकं सीताहरणोपक्रमः
Rāvaṇa–Mārīca Dialogue and the Decoy-Deer Prelude to Sītā’s Abduction
जरा मृत्यु: कुतस्तेषां हर्ष: प्रीति: सुखं न च । न दु:खं न सुखं चापि रागद्वेषौ कुतो मुने,मुने! उनमें जरा-मृत्युकी सम्भावना तो हो ही कैसे सकती है? हर्ष, प्रीति तथा सुख आदि विकारोंका भी उनमें सर्वथा अभाव ही है। ऐसी स्थितिमें उनके भीतर दुःख-सुख तथा राग-द्वेषादि कैसे रह सकते हैं?
jarā mṛtyuḥ kutas teṣāṃ harṣaḥ prītiḥ sukhaṃ na ca | na duḥkhaṃ na sukhaṃ cāpi rāgadveṣau kuto mune ||
Disse o mensageiro divino: “Como poderiam a velhice e a morte jamais dizer respeito a eles? Neles não há absolutamente lugar para agitações como exaltação, afeição ou prazer. Em tal estado, ó sábio, como poderiam existir dentro deles a dor e a alegria — e como poderiam surgir o apego e a aversão?”
देवदूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches transcendence of dualities: one who abides in a purified, higher state (beyond bodily identification) is not governed by aging and death in the same way, and mental fluctuations—pleasure/pain, attachment/aversion—lose their hold. Ethically, it points toward vairāgya (dispassion) and steadiness as marks of spiritual maturity.
A divine messenger addresses a sage and argues that for certain exalted beings (or those established in a liberated condition), ordinary human conditions—aging, death, and emotional extremes—do not apply. The speech functions as instruction, emphasizing the inner state in which worldly opposites cannot take root.