Shloka 19

शोक-शमन उपदेशः

Instruction on the Pacification of Grief

Devanagari script

एवं संसारगहने उन्‍्मज्जननिमज्जने । कर्मभोगेन बध्यन्ते क्लिश्यन्ते चाल्पबुद्धय:

Transliteration

evaṁ saṁsāra-gahane unmajjana-nimajjane | karma-bhogena badhyante kliśyante cālpa-buddhayaḥ ||

Translation

एवं संसारगहने उन्मज्जननिमज्जने । कर्मभोगेन बध्यन्ते क्लिश्यन्ते चाल्पबुद्धयः ॥

Word by Word

एवम्thus, in this manner

संसारगहनेin the deep/thicket of worldly existence

उन्मज्जननिमज्जनेin rising up and sinking down (alternation)

कर्मभोगेनby/through the experience (enjoyment/suffering) of karma

बध्यन्तेare bound

क्लिश्यन्तेsuffer, are afflicted

चand

अल्पबुद्धयःthe small-minded / of little understanding

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura teaches that ignorance and poor discernment keep beings trapped in saṁsāra: they become bound by the lived consequences of their actions (karma-bhoga) and therefore continue to suffer. The implied remedy is wisdom—seeing clearly, choosing dharmic action, and loosening attachment to outcomes.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Strī Parva’s grief-filled aftermath of the war, Vidura speaks in a reflective, instructive mode. He frames human life as a turbulent cycle of rising and sinking, emphasizing how ordinary people, lacking insight, remain entangled in the results of their deeds and are pained by that bondage.