Shanti Parva Adhyaya 291 Shloka 19 - Mahabharata | Urdu | Vedapath

Vyasa

←Previous VerseNext Verse→

Shloka 19

Akṣara–Kṣara Viveka: Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda (अक्षर-क्षर विवेकः)

Devanagari script

नवे कपाले सलिल संन्यस्तं हीयते यथा । नवेतरे तथाभावं प्राप्नोति सुखभावितम्‌

Transliteration

nave kapāle salila-saṃnyastaṃ hīyate yathā | navetare tathābhāvaṃ prāpnoti sukha-bhāvitam ||

Translation

پراشر نے کہا— جیسے نئے بنے کچے مٹی کے گھڑے میں ڈالا ہوا پانی رس کر ضائع ہو جاتا ہے، مگر خوب پکے ہوئے گھڑے میں رکھا پانی جوں کا توں قائم رہتا ہے؛ اسی طرح پختہ اور پاکیزہ باطن (دل و دماغ) میں قائم نیک اعمال سے پیدا ہونے والا سعادت بخش ثواب ہی ثابت قدم رہتا ہے۔

Word by Word

नवेin a new (one)

कपालेin a pot/earthen vessel

सलिलम्water

संन्यस्तम्placed/kept (having been put)

हीयतेdiminishes/is lost

यथाas/just as

नवेतरेin the other than new (i.e., in the well-baked/old one)

तथाso/likewise

अभावम्non-existence/cessation (loss)

प्राप्नोतिattains/reaches

सुखभावितम्made/imbued with happiness; well-cultivated as happiness

Speaker

पराशर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Parāśara

earthen pot (kapāla)

water (salila)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Merit and happiness gained from good actions become stable only when supported by a mature, purified mind; otherwise they ‘leak away’ due to inner impurity, instability, or lack of self-control.

What is happening in the narrative?

Parāśara instructs through a household metaphor: an unbaked clay pot cannot retain water, but a fired pot can. Likewise, spiritual or ethical gains remain only in a well-formed inner character.