Shloka 39

अध्याय ३३ — कर्म, दैव, हठ, स्वभाव और पुरुषार्थ पर द्रौपदी का उपदेश

Draupadī on Action, Fate, and Human Effort

Devanagari script

न धर्मपर एव स्यान्न चार्थपरमो नर: । न कामपरमो वा स्यात्‌ सर्वान्‌ सेवेत सर्वदा

Transliteration

na dharmapara eva syān na cārthaparamo naraḥ | na kāmaparamo vā syāt sarvān seveta sarvadā ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: Một người không nên chỉ chuyên nhất vào dharma, cũng không nên chỉ chạy theo artha (của cải), lại càng không nên sống chỉ vì kāma (dục vọng). Trái lại, mọi lúc người ấy phải chăm lo và vun bồi cả ba mục tiêu—giữ cho bổn phận, thịnh vượng và khoái lạc được cân bằng đúng mực.

Word by Word

नnot

धर्मपरःdevoted to dharma

एवonly/indeed

स्यात्should be

नnor/not

चand

अर्थपरमःone who holds artha as supreme

नरःa man

नnor/not

कामपरमःone who holds desire as supreme

वाor

स्यात्should be

सर्वान्all (persons)

सेवेतshould serve/attend upon

सर्वदाalways

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Do not absolutize a single life-goal—dharma, artha, or kāma. The teaching recommends a disciplined balance, cultivating all appropriately so that duty guides prosperity and pleasure rather than being eclipsed by them.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, a general ethical maxim is stated: the ideal person is not one-sided (only righteous, only acquisitive, or only pleasure-seeking), but one who consistently integrates the major human aims in a harmonious way.