Shloka 16
अज्ञान–लोभयोः परस्परहेतुत्वम्
Mutual Causality of Ignorance and Greed
न हास्ति सर्वभूतेषु दुः:खमस्मिन् कुत: सुखम् । एवं प्रकृतिभूतानां सर्वसंसर्गयायिनाम्
na hāsti sarvabhūteṣu duḥkham asmin kutaḥ sukham | evaṃ prakṛtibhūtānāṃ sarvasaṃsargayāyinām ||
商那迦说道：“在此世间，于一切众生之中，苦从未缺席——既如此，乐又怎能有定？此乃有身之类的本性：必经诸般交往与触对；而随彼触对，痛苦不可避免地到来，欢悦却转瞬即逝。”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Happiness is not a guaranteed, stable state for embodied beings because contact and association (saṃsarga) are unavoidable, and with them come inevitable forms of suffering; therefore one should cultivate realism, restraint, and detachment rather than expecting unbroken pleasure.
In the Shānti Parva’s reflective discourse, Śaunaka voices a general philosophical observation about the condition of living beings: life necessarily involves continual interactions and attachments, making suffering inescapable and happiness intermittent.