Shloka 59
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
त्यज्यतामेष निस्तेजा: शून्य: काछ्ठत्वमागत: । अन्यदेहविषक्त हि शावं काषछठत्वमागतम्
tyajyatām eṣa nistejāḥ śūnyaḥ kāṣṭhatvam āgataḥ | anyadeha-viṣaktaḥ hi śavaṁ kāṣṭhatvam āgatam ||
Wika ni Jambuka: “Iwan na siya. Wala nang ningning at hungkag na sa buhay, naging gaya na siya ng isang pirasong kahoy. Sapagkat ang nabubuhay na sarili ay kumapit na sa ibang katawan; ang bangkay na ito’y naging kahoy na lamang. Bakit hindi kayo lumisan at iwan siya? Walang saysay ang inyong pagkapit, at ang pagod na ito’y walang ibubunga.”
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.