Shloka 44
Śānti-parva 168: Śoka-nivṛtti-buddhi (The Cognition that Reduces Grief) and Piṅgalā’s Nairāśya
यो वै न पापे निरतो न पुण्ये नार्थ न धर्मे मनुजो न कामे । विमुक्तदोष: समलोष्टकाञज्चनो विमुच्यते दुःखसुखार्थसिद्धे:
yō vai na pāpe nirato na puṇye nārthe na dharme manujo na kāme | vimuktadoṣaḥ samaloṣṭakāñcano vimucyate duḥkhasukhārthasiddheḥ ||
यो वै न पापे निरतो न पुण्ये नार्थे न धर्मे मनुजो न कामे । विमुक्तदोषः समलोष्टकाञ्चनो विमुच्यते दुःखसुखार्थसिद्धेः ॥
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation is described as a state of radical non-attachment: one is not driven by sin, merit, wealth, ritualized duty pursued for gain, or sensual desire. When faults fall away, even extraordinary attainments that produce pleasure and pain no longer bind; the liberated person sees gold and a clod of earth as equal.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a renunciant ideal: the marks of a freed person are inner purity, detachment from worldly aims, and equanimity toward value-laden objects like gold.