[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Epic, Poetry, Drama & Narrative](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit) › [The Mahābhārata and its versions](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata) › [The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) › 3.2.19 # The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty 3.2.19 Mahābhārata 3.2.19 - **Language:** Sanskrit ### [3.2.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.2.19) śrūyatāṃ cābhidhāsyāmi janakena yathā purā | ātmavyavasthānakarā gītāḥ ślokā mahātmanā || 19 || > "Vaisampayana continued. 'Saying this, the weeping king sat himself down upon the ground. Then a learned Brahmana, Saunaka by name versed in self-knowledge and skilled in the Sankhya system of yoga, addressed the king, saying, 'Causes of grief by thousands, and causes of fear by hundreds, day after day, overwhelm the ignorant but not the wise. Surely, sensible men like thee never suffer themselves to be deluded by acts that are opposed to true knowledge, fraught with every kind of evil, and destructive of salvation. O king, in thee dwelleth that understanding furnished with the eight attributes which is said to be capable of providing against all evils and which resulteth from a study of the Sruti (Vedas) and scriptures! And men like unto thee are never stupefied, on the accession of poverty or an affliction overtaking their friends, through bodily or mental uneasiness! Listen, I shall tell the slokas which were chanted of old by the illustrious Janaka touching the subject of controlling the self! This world is afflicted with both bodily and mental suffering. Listen now to the means of allaying it as I indicate them both briefly and in detail. Disease, contact with painful things, toil and want of objects desired.--these are the four causes that induce bodily suffering. And as regards disease, it may be allayed by the application of medicine, while mental ailments are cured by seeking to forget them yoga-meditation. > — Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa - [Previous: 3.2.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.2.18) - [Next: 3.2.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.2.20) - [Up: 3.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.2) ## Translations (1) - [The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa~en-ganguli.3.2.6.1) — Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, English ## Commentaries (1) - [Bhāratabhāvadīpa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!nilakantha.3.2.20) — Nīlakaṇṭha Caturdhara 1650, Sanskrit ## Other recensions (2) - [Southern recension](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa*southern.3.2.21) — Sanskrit - [Vulgate (Nīlakaṇṭha's text)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa*vulgate.3.2.20) — Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.2.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.2.19) · Pramāṇa