Shloka 35
Śrī–Indra–Bali Saṃvāda: The Departure and Fourfold Placement of Lakṣmī
यदा स्वरूपतश्चान्यो जातित: शुभतो<र्थत: । कथमस्मिन् स इत्येवं सर्व वा स्यादसंहितम्
yadā svarūpataścānyo jātitaḥ śubhato'rthataḥ | katham asmin sa ityevaṁ sarva vā syād asaṁhitam ||
ভীষ্ম বললেন— যদি এক ক্ষণ থেকে পরের ক্ষণে সত্তা স্বরূপে, জাতিতে, শুভত্বে ও উদ্দেশ্যে সম্পূর্ণ ভিন্ন হয়ে যায়, তবে ‘এটাই সেই’—এমন প্রত্যভিজ্ঞান কীভাবে সম্ভব? তাহলে অভিজ্ঞতা ও আচরণের সমস্ত সামঞ্জস্যই ভেঙে পড়বে।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma argues that if a person is wholly different at every moment in nature, kind, moral quality, and purpose, then recognition and responsibility become impossible—one could not validly say “this is the same person,” and ethical-religious life (effort, enjoyment, liberation) loses coherence.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Bhīṣma is presenting an objection (from the āstika standpoint) against a doctrine of momentariness: he highlights that denying continuity undermines recognition (pratyabhijñā) and makes the linkage between desire, practice, and result unintelligible.