Shloka 32
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)
नाल॑ सुखाय सुह्दो नाल॑ दुःखाय शत्रव: । न च प्रजालमर्थेभ्यो न सुखेभ्यो5प्यलं धनम्,न तो सुहृद् सुख देनेमें समर्थ हैं न शत्रु दुख देनेमें। इसी प्रकार न तो प्रजा धन दे सकती है और न धन सुख दे सकता है
nālaṁ sukhāya suhṛdo nālaṁ duḥkhāya śatravaḥ | na ca prajālam arthebhyo na sukhebhyo 'py alaṁ dhanam ||
毗耶娑说：朋友并不足以真正赐予快乐，仇敌也不足以真正加诸忧苦。同样，臣属与百姓并不能单凭自身生出财富；而财富本身，也不足以单独生出幸福。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
External agents—friends, enemies, dependents, and even wealth—are not decisive causes of happiness or suffering. The verse emphasizes that well-being and distress are not reliably produced by outer circumstances alone, encouraging a turn toward inner discipline, right understanding, and dharmic conduct as more stable foundations.
In the Śānti Parva’s reflective instruction, Vyāsa states a general principle about human life: do not over-attribute your joy to allies or your pain to opponents, and do not assume that people or possessions automatically generate prosperity or happiness. The statement functions as counsel meant to calm agitation and correct mistaken causal thinking.