ब्राह्मण्य् उवाच
न संतापस् त्वया कार्यः प्राकृतेनेव कर्हि चित् ॥
न हि संतापकालो ऽयं वैद्यस्य तव विद्यते ॥
अवश्यं निधनं सर्वैर् गन्तव्यम् इह मानवैः ॥
अवश्यभाविन्य् अर्थे वै संतापो नेह विद्यते ॥
भार्या पुत्रो ऽथ दुहिता सर्वम् आत्मार्थम् इष्यते ॥
व्यथां जहि सुबुद्ध्या त्वं स्वयं यास्यामि तत्र वै ॥
brāhmaṇy uvāca
na saṃtāpas tvayā kāryaḥ prākṛteneva karhi cit ||
na hi saṃtāpakālo 'yaṃ vaidyasya tava vidyate ||
avaśyaṃ nidhanaṃ sarvair gantavyam iha mānavaiḥ ||
avaśyabhāviny arthe vai saṃtāpo neha vidyate ||
bhāryā putro 'tha duhitā sarvam ātmārtham iṣyate ||
vyathāṃ jahi subuddhyā tvaṃ svayaṃ yāsyāmi tatra vai ||
The brahmin's wife said: "You must never, being learned, give way to grief like a common man; now is not the time for grief for you. Inevitably all men here must come to death, and there is no sense in grieving over what is inevitable. Wife, son, and daughter — all these are sought for one's own sake; cast off your anguish through good sense — I myself will go there."
8e6b3fe42b40 · published Jul 12, 2026, 5:09:57 PM UTC
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Here the wife consoles her husband with the wisdom expected of a learned man. It is telling that she reminds him of his learning: "now is not the time for grief for you, who know" — one who knows the futility of grieving over the inevitable should not give way to it like the ignorant. Here are the first stirrings of true knowledge: death is unavoidable for all, and to grieve over what cannot be turned aside is unreasonable (compare Krishna's teaching to Arjuna). Telling, too, is her self-forgetfulness: before she has even finished stating her reasons, she has already resolved to go herself. Thus the text shows that a true wife, in the hour of calamity, becomes her husband's teacher, restoring to him the steadiness that grief had taken away.