Shloka 38
Adhyāya 287 — Janaka’s Inquiry on Śreyas, Abhayadāna, and Asaṅga
Non-attachment
निरारम्भो5प्ययमिह यथालब्धोपजीवन: । पुण्य॑ पुण्येषु विमल॑ पापं पापेषु चाप्तुयात्,किसी कर्मका आरम्भ न करनेवाला और जो कुछ मिल जाय, उसीसे जीवन-निर्वाह करनेवाला पुरुष भी यदि पुण्यात्माओंके समाजमें रहे तो उसे निर्मल पुण्यकी प्राप्ति होती है और पापियोंके संसर्गमें रहे तो वह पापका ही भागी होता है
nirārambho 'py ayam iha yathālabdhopajīvanaḥ | puṇyaṃ puṇyeṣu vimalaṃ pāpaṃ pāpeṣu cāpnuyāt ||
निरारम्भोऽप्ययं इह यथालब्धोपजीवनः । पुण्यं पुण्येषु विमलं पापं पापेषु चाप्नुयात् ॥ अर्थः—यः कर्मारम्भं न करोति, यथालब्धेनैव जीवति च, स अपि पुण्येषु सत्सु वसन् विमलं पुण्यम् आप्नोति; पापेषु तु वसन् पापस्य भागी भवति।
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral and spiritual outcomes depend strongly on one’s company: even a personally non-initiating, minimally active person gains pure merit in the presence of the virtuous, and accrues sin by associating with the wicked.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Nārada delivers a didactic observation: he contrasts the results of keeping virtuous versus sinful company, using the example of a man who merely lives on what comes without initiating actions.