Shloka 17
Vipula’s Yogic Protection of the Guru’s Household (विपुलस्य योगरक्षा / Vipulasya Yogarakṣā)
नासां कश्षिदगम्यो5स्ति नासां वयसि निश्चय: । विरूप॑ रूपवन्तं वा पुमानित्येव भुज्जते,इनके लिये कोई भी पुरुष ऐसा नहीं है जो अगम्य हो। उनका किसी अवस्था-विशेषपर भी निश्चय नहीं रहता। कोई रूपवान् हो या कुरूप; पुरुष है--इतना ही समझकर स्त्रियाँ उसका उपभोग करती हैं
nāsāṃ kaścid agamyo 'sti nāsāṃ vayasi niścayaḥ | virūpaṃ rūpavantaṃ vā pumān ity eva bhujyate ||
Bhishma sprach: Für solche Frauen gilt kein Mann als unerreichbar. An keinen Lebensabschnitt binden sie einen festen Entschluss. Ob schön oder entstellt—sie sehen nur „einen Mann“ und suchen an ihm Genuss.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents Bhishma’s moral critique of unrestrained desire: when discernment and steadfastness are absent, ethical boundaries (who is ‘approachable’ or not, and what is appropriate at different life-stages) collapse, reducing persons to objects of pleasure.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhishthira on dharma and proper conduct. Here he characterizes a certain type of woman (as framed by the text) as lacking restraint and discrimination, describing behavior driven by mere sensual appetite rather than ethical judgment.