Shloka 163
अज्ञान–लोभयोः परस्परहेतुत्वम्
Mutual Causality of Ignorance and Greed
त्यजतां जीवितं श्रेयो निवृत्ते पुण्यपापके । इस संसारके सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंमें जब दुःख ही नहीं है
śaunaka uvāca | tyajatāṃ jīvitaṃ śreyo nivṛtte puṇya-pāpake |
त्यजतां जीवितं श्रेयो निवृत्ते पुण्यपापके । न हि दुःखविहीनेऽस्मिन् लोके सुखमवाप्यते ॥ सुखदुःखे प्रकृतिस्थानां धर्मौ संसर्गदोषजौ । ममताहङ्कारसंयुक्तं सर्वं त्यक्त्वा यतव्रताः ॥ येषां निवृत्तं पुण्यं च पापं च पुरुषर्षभाः । तेषां जीवनमेवैतत् कल्याणायोपपद्यते ॥
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
True welfare (śreyas) lies in detachment: when ego and possessiveness are abandoned and the dualities of merit and sin no longer bind, one’s life becomes intrinsically auspicious; pleasure and pain are seen as natural to embodied existence under prakṛti.
In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Śaunaka speaks a reflective teaching on the inevitability of pleasure and pain for embodied beings and praises the state of renunciation in which both puṇya and pāpa have ceased to operate.