The Brahmana laments his impossible choice and worldly misery
A Brahmana and his family are paralyzed by grief. He delivers a monologue on the misery of life, revealing they face a terrible danger that forces him to choose: sacrifice his wife, his son, his daughter, or himself. He finds each option an unbearable cruelty and sees no escape.
Kunti hurried into the inner quarters of the Brahmana's house. There she saw the Brahmana, his wife, his son, and his daughter, their faces all distorted with grief.
The Brahmana was speaking, his words a torrent of despair. "Cursed is this worldly life," he said. "It is meaningless, like the substance of fire. Its root is unhappiness and slavery to others. To live is to suffer a great fever. Those who live must always choose between evils."
He explained the impossible bind. The atman (soul) may be one, but a person must serve dharma (righteousness), artha (prosperity), and kama (desire). Trying to pursue them all at once brings misery. Some speak of moksha (salvation) as the greatest goal, but it can never be reached. The pursuit of artha is a hell; the desire for wealth creates suffering. "Great is the unhappiness for those who desire wealth," he said, "and greater for those who have acquired it. When it is lost, the misery is even worse."
Then he turned to the immediate danger. "I do not see any way of escaping from this peril unless I run away with my wife and son to a healthier place." He addressed his wife directly, his frustration breaking through. "O brahmani! I told you before we should go to a safe place, but you didn't listen. You said, 'I was born here. I grew old here. This is my father's house.' But your father is dead. Your old mother died long ago. Your relatives are also dead. Why this attachment? You didn't listen because of affection for your relatives, and now we face the terrible misery that comes from losing a relative. How can I bear it?"
The nature of the danger remained unnamed, but its consequence was clear: he had to abandon one of his own to save the others. He weighed each horrific option aloud.
He could not abandon his wife. "Always giving, you have been my companion in all virtuous acts. You are like a mother to me. The gods gave you to me as a friend. My father and mother gave you to me as a partner in my duties as a householder. I married you in accordance with the mantras (sacred chants). You are the mother of my children. I cannot give up my wife to save my own life."
He could not sacrifice his daughter. "She is still a child, not yet an adult. The great-souled creator gave her to me in trust so that I could find her a husband. Through her, together with my ancestors, I will be able to attain the worlds reached by those who have sons. How can I give up a daughter I have fathered myself? Some say a father loves a son more. Not I. I love them equally. On her are based my continuity and the worlds that bring eternal bliss."
Sacrificing himself was no solution either. "If I sacrifice myself and go to the other world, I will still have to repent. Abandoned by me, they will not be able to live. To give up any one of them will be a cruel act, condemned by the learned. But if I sacrifice myself, they will also die without me."
The circle of logic closed, leaving no exit. "Great distress has befallen me. I do not know how to escape. I am cursed. What path will I and my relatives follow?" He reached his desolate conclusion. "It is better that I should die with all of them. I cannot live."