Mahabharata Quotes

“What is the greatest wonder in the world?
That, every single day, people die,
Yet the living think they are immortal.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“Pleasure from the senses seems like nectar at first, but it is bitter as poison in the end.”
― Krishna , The Mahabharata

“When everything in this world is temporary, why do you grieve for that which is lost?”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“free of the five evils which assail men: excessive sleep, fear, anger, weakness of mind, and procrastination.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“And, having killed him (Abhimanyu), your people danced round his dead body like savage hunters exulting over their prey. All good men in the army were grieved and tears rolled from their eyes. Even the birds of prey, that circled overhead making noises seemed to cry 'Not thus! Not thus!”
― C. Rajagopalachari, Mahabharata

“Scriptural knowledge is successful when it results in humility and good conduct, wealth is successful when it is both enjoyed and given away in charity, and marriage is successful when the wife is enjoyed and bears offspring.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“Yudhisthira replies that anger leads to evil and should not be indulged; better far is forbearance. (3.30)”
― John D. Smith, The Mahabharata

“Desist, brother. Great men never care for the harsh words uttered by inferior men. Even if able to retaliate, they do not take seriously acts of hostility, preferring instead to remember even a little good that their enemies may have done them.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“The Yaksha asked, 'What is weightier than the earth itself? What is higher than the heavens?' What is fleeter than the wind? And what is more numerous than grass?' Yudhishthira answered, 'The mother is weightier than the earth; the father is higher than the heaven; the mind is fleeter than the wind; and our thoughts are more numerous than grass.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“Those kinds of food that increase life's period, energy, strength, health, well-being, and joy, which are savoury, oleaginous, nutritive, and agreeable, are liked by God.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“O guide of the Ganas! be thou the writer of the Bharata which I have formed in my imagination, and which I am about to repeat.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa - Complete

“Over-attachment for one’s close relatives is simply born of ignorance. Every creature in the world is born alone and dies alone. He experiences the results of his own good and evil deeds and in the end leaves the present body to accept another. The belief that one person is the relation of another is nothing more than illusion.”
― Krishna Dharma, Mahabharata

“Existence and non-existence, pleasure and pain all have Time for their root. Time createth all things and Time destroyeth all creatures. It is Time that burneth creatures and it is Time that extinguisheth the fire. All states, the good and the evil, in the three worlds, are caused by Time. Time cutteth short all things and createth them anew. Time alone is awake when all things are asleep: indeed, Time is incapable of being overcome. Time passeth over all things without being retarded. Knowing, as thou dost, that all things past and future and all that exist at the present moment, are the offspring of Time, it behoveth thee not to throw away thy reason.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“Those unacquainted with any language but their own are generally very exclusive in matters of taste.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“A wise man laments neither for the living nor the dead. Both you, I, and all these assembled kshatriyas have always existed and will always exist. We are eternal souls, passing from body to body. Even in this life we see how the body changes, even though we remain the same person. In the same way, when death comes, we are given a new body. A self-controlled person is not bewildered by such a change.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“The Yaksha asked, 'What enemy is invincible? What constitutes an incurable disease for man? What sort of a man is called honest and what dishonest?' Yudhishthira answered, 'Anger is an invincible enemy. Covetousness constitutes an incurable disease. He is honest that desires the weal of all creatures, and he is dishonest who is unmerciful.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“The Yaksha asked, 'What hath been said to be the sign of asceticism? And what is true restraint? What constitutes forgiveness. And what is shame?' Yudhishthira answered, 'Staying in one's own religion is asceticism: the restraint of the mind is of all restraints the true one: forgiveness consists in enduring enmity; and shame, in withdrawing from all unworthy acts.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“Weapons, such as arrows, bullets, and bearded darts, can be easily extracted from the body, but a wordy dagger plunged deep into the heart is incapable of being taken out. Wordy arrows are shot from the mouth; smitten by them one grieveth day and night.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“Man is the slave of money, but money is no man's slave”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“Krishna was the unborn original Personality of Godhead, appearing on earth to destroy demonic men and to establish the eternal religion, pure love of God.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“Having no knowledge of models other than what they meet with in their own tongue, the standard they have formed of purity and taste in composition must necessarily be a narrow one.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“Then Krishna also decided to return home. As he was departing he spoke affectionately to Yudhisthira. "O King, cherish all your subjects with ceaseless vigilance and patience. As the cloud is to all creatures, or the large tree to the birds, so should you become the refuge to your dependants.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“The Yaksha asked, 'By what, O king, birth, behaviour, study, or learning doth a person become a Brahmana? Tell us with certitude!' Yudhishthira answered,-'Listen, O Yaksha! It is neither birth, nor study, nor learning, that is the cause of Brahmanahood, without doubt, it is behaviour that constitutes it. One's behaviour should always be well-guarded, especially by a Brahmana. He who maintaineth his conduct unimpaired, is never impaired himself. Professors and pupils, in fact, all who study the scriptures, if addicted to wicked habits, are to be regarded as illiterate wretches. He only is learned who performeth his religious duties. He even that hath studied the four Vedas is to be regarded as a wicked wretch scarcely distinguishable from a Sudra (if his conduct be not correct).”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“Over-attachment for one’s close relatives is simply born of ignorance. Every creature in the world is born alone and dies alone. He experiences the results of his own good and evil deeds and in the end leaves the present body to accept another. The belief that one person is the relation of another is nothing more than illusion.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“is born of (the womb of) a she-snake that had drunk my vital fluid.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“O son of Kunti, happiness and distress come and go constantly like winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception alone, O Bharata, and one should tolerate them without being disturbed. A person capable of such tolerance is eligible for liberation from all misery. The great seers who know the truth have concluded from a careful analysis that the soul and spiritual reality are unchanging, and that the temporary material body is ultimately without any basis in truth. The soul pervades the body and is indestructible. No one can destroy the immeasurable and eternal soul, but the body is sure to come to an end. Therefore, fight without any compunction for your relatives' bodies, O Arjuna.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“Real renunciation was something internal, not external. One who did his duty in a mood of detachment was the true renunciant, not the man who gave up his duty.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Mahabharata

“The Yaksha asked, 'What is the soul of man? Who is that friend bestowed on man by the gods? What is man's chief support? And what also is his chief refuge?' Yudhishthira answered, 'The son is a man's soul: the wife is the friend bestowed on man by the gods; the clouds are his chief support; and gift is his chief refuge.”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“The Yaksha asked, 'Who is the friend of the exile? Who is the friend of the householder? Who is the friend of him that ails? And who is the friend of one about to die?' Yudhishthira answered, 'The friend of the exile in a distant land is his companion, the friend of the householder is the wife; the friend of him that ails is the physician: and the friend of him about to die is charity”
― Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, The Mahābhārata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

“As in the great ocean one piece of wood meets another, and parts from it again such is the meeting of creatures. Mahabharata”
― Vyasa, The Great Mahabharata