Shloka 59
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
त्यज्यतामेष निस्तेजा: शून्य: काछ्ठत्वमागत: । अन्यदेहविषक्त हि शावं काषछठत्वमागतम्,यह मृत बालक तेजोहीन होकर थोथे काठके समान हो गया है। इसे छोड़ दो। इसका जीव दूसरे शरीरमें आसक्त है। इस निष्प्राण बालकका यह शव काठके समान हो गया है तुमलोग इसे छोड़कर चले क्यों नहीं जाते? तुम्हारा यह स्नेह निरर्थक है और इस परिश्रमका भी कोई फल नहीं है
tyajyatām eṣa nistejāḥ śūnyaḥ kāṣṭhatvam āgataḥ | anyadeha-viṣaktaḥ hi śavaṁ kāṣṭhatvam āgatam ||
त्यज्यतामेष निस्तेजाः शून्यः काष्ठत्वमागतः । अन्यदेहविषक्तो हि शावः काष्ठत्वमागतः ॥
जम्बुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse urges discernment and detachment at death: once life has departed, the body is inert like wood. Clinging to the corpse out of affection is portrayed as fruitless, while the jīva is understood to move on toward another embodiment.
Jambuka addresses mourners who are attached to a dead child’s body, instructing them to abandon the corpse and stop exhausting themselves in grief, emphasizing that the living principle has already departed and their continued attachment cannot restore life.