Shloka 55
वृत्ति-सत्सङ्ग-दान-धर्म
Livelihood, Virtuous Association, and Ethics of Giving
अवीनां पित्तभेदश्न सर्वेषामिति न: श्रुतम् । शुकानामपि सर्वेषां हिक्किका प्रोच्यते ज्वर:
avīnāṃ pittabhedaś ca sarveṣām iti naḥ śrutam | śukānām api sarveṣāṃ hikkikā procyate jvaraḥ ||
قال بهيشما: «لقد سمعنا هذا على أنه قاعدة عامة: عند جميع الغنم يكون الداء المسمّى pitta-bheda هو بعينه حُمّاهم. وكذلك عند جميع الببغاوات تُوصَف الفُواق (hiccup) بأنها حُمّاهم».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma conveys a piece of received traditional knowledge: different species may have characteristic ailments that are conventionally classified under ‘fever’ (jvara). The verse illustrates how diagnostic categories can be applied by customary association rather than by a single uniform symptom-set.
Within Bhishma’s long instructional discourse in the Shanti Parva, he cites proverbial/medical observations about animals—sheep and parrots—to support a broader explanatory point about how conditions are named and understood in traditional learning.