In former times, the great Rishi Vyasa, having composed Mahabharata, instructed his son Suka Dev to read these four Verses with him:1. Thousands of mothers and fathers, and hundreds of sons and wives arise in the world and depart from it.
2. Others will (arise and) similarly depart.
3. There are thousands of occasions for joy and hundreds of occasions for fear.
4. These affect only the ignorant but never the wise.
With uplifted arms I am crying aloud but nobody hears me.
From Righteousness is Wealth as also Pleasure. Why shouldn't Righteousness, therefore, be courted? For the sake of neither pleasure, nor out of fear, nor of excessive desire for wealth should any one cast off Righteousness. Indeed, for the sake of even life itself one should not cast off Righteousness. Righteousness is eternal. Pleasure and Pain are not eternal. The Jiva (Individual Soul) is eternal. The cause, however, of the Jiva’s taking birth after birth is not.
Mahabharata - Swargarohana Parva
Note:
Righteousness = Dharma i.e activities that lead an individual soul and society toward self realization as mentioned in the Vedic literature and its supplements.
Righteousness also = Sanatan Dharma or the eternal activities of the self realized soul in relationship to the personality of Godhead.
