Shloka 49
Adhyāya 287 — Janaka’s Inquiry on Śreyas, Abhayadāna, and Asaṅga
Non-attachment
अपनी उन्नति चाहनेवाले साधकको चाहिये कि जिस पापकर्मके संस्कारोंसे युक्त हुआ मनुष्य खाटपर पड़कर दुःख भोगता है, उस कर्मको पहलेसे ही न करे ।।
nārada uvāca |
āpannāṃ unnatiṃ kāṅkṣan sādhako 'yaṃ vicakṣaṇaḥ |
yasya pāpakṛta-saṃskārair yukto martyaḥ śayane patan duḥkhaṃ bhuṅkte, tat karma pūrvam eva na kuryāt ||
yatra rājā ca rājñaś ca puruṣāḥ praty-anantarāḥ |
kuṭumbinām agra-bhujas tyajet tad rāṣṭram ātmavān ||
那罗陀说道：求自身提升的修行者，当谨慎莫先行作那罪业；其业习余痕，终将系缚于苦，使人卧榻受痛。又凡国中君王与近臣先食，夺在家者之前者，有操守而自持之人，必当离弃其邦。
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Avoid wrongdoing before it ripens into unavoidable suffering: actions leave saṃskāras that later mature as pain and helplessness. Ethically, a just polity is one where rulers do not privilege themselves at the expense of householders; if a realm is exploitative, a principled person should not support it and may leave it.
Narada is instructing on dharma in the Shanti Parva, giving moral counsel about personal conduct (avoiding pāpakarma that later yields suffering) and political ethics (condemning a kingdom where the king and his inner circle take first share, signaling injustice toward ordinary householders).