"'Kripa said, "We have heard all that thou hast said, O puissant one! Listen, however, to a few words of mine, O mighty armed one! All men are subjected to and governed by these two forces, Destiny and Exertion. There is nothing higher than these two. Our acts do not become successful in consequence of destiny alone, nor of exertion alone, O best of men! Success springs from the union of the two. All purposes, high and low, are dependent on a union of those two. In the whole world, it is through these two that men are seen to act as also to abstain. What result is is not auspicious, and absence of exertion where destiny is auspicious, both these are fruitless! What I have said before (about the union of the two) is the truth. If the rains properly moisten a well-tilled soil, the seed produces great results. Human success is of this nature.Mbh 10.2.1 · Mahabharata · Sauptika-parva
Mbh 10.2.1
Mahabharata · translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Themes in this passage
LonelinessKarmaSelf-ControlSpeechStrengthTruth
Loneliness in other traditions
The same theme, as Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Taoism address it.
He alone who, without ceasing, practises the duty of sitting alone and sleeping alone, he, subduing himself, will rejoice in the destruction of all desires alone, as if living in a forest.Dhp 21.305 · Dhammapada · Miscellaneous
Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.Quran 1:5 · Quran · The Opening
They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.Jeremiah 12:11 · Bible · Jeremiah
The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if enjoying a full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring. I alone seem listless and still, my desires having as yet given no indication of their presence. I am like an infant which has not yet smiled. I look dejected and forlorn, as if I had no home to go to. The multitude of men all have enough and to spare. I alone seem to have lost everything. My mind is that of a stupid man; I am in a state of chaos. Ordinary men look bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be benighted. They look full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and confused. I seem to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to rest. All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull and incapable, like a rude borderer. (Thus) I alone am different from other men, but I value the nursing-mother (the Tao).Tao Te Ching 20.2 · Tao Te Ching
See what all six traditions say about loneliness →
Search every tradition at once
Ask a question in your own words and see how six traditions answer it.