“Dhritarashtra said, ‘Tell me what may be done by a person that is sleepless and burning with anxieties, for thou alone amongst us, O child, art versed in both religion and profit. Advise me wisely, O Vidura. O thou of magnanimous heart, tell me what thou deemest to be beneficial for Ajatasatru and what is productive of good to the Kurus. Apprehending future evils. I look back only on my previous guilt: I ask thee with anxious heart, O learned one, tell me what is exactly in Ajatasatru’s mind.’Mbh 5.34.1 · Mahabharata · UDYOGA PARVA
Mbh 5.34.1
Mahabharata · translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Themes in this passage
AnxietyChildrenLonelinessWisdom
Anxiety in other traditions
The same theme, as Christianity, Islam and Hellenism address it.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.Psalms 42:5 · Bible · Psalms
Saying: Lo! of old, when we were with our families, we were ever anxious;Quran 52:26 · Quran · The Mountain
Then thus the god: “O restless fate of pride, That strives to learn what heaven resolves to hide; Vain is the search, presumptuous and abhorr’d, Anxious to thee, and odious to thy lord. Let this suffice: the immutable decree No force can shake: what is, that ought to be. Goddess, submit; nor dare our will withstand, But dread the power of this avenging hand: The united strength of all the gods above In vain resists the omnipotence of Jove.”Iliad 1.57 · Iliad · 1
“I should have done so at once,” replied Neptune, “if I were not anxious to avoid anything that might displease you; now, therefore, I should like to wreck the Phaeacian ship as it is returning from its escort. This will stop them from escorting people in future; and I should also like to bury their city under a huge mountain.”Odyssey 13.15 · Odyssey · 13
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