Shloka 6
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
न वै चरसि यच्छेय आत्मनो वा यदीशिषे । अकामात्मापि हि सदा धुरमुद्यम्य चैव ह,“तुम जो कामनारहित होकर भी अपने कल्याणका साधन नहीं कर रहे हो और मनको वशमें नहीं कर रहे हो, इसका कारण यही है कि तुमने राज्यका बोझा अपनेपर उठा रखा है
na vai carasi yac chreya ātmanaḥ vā yad īśiṣe | akāma-ātmā api hi sadā dhuram udyamya caiva ha ||
Bhishma sprach: „Du strebst nicht nach dem, was dir wahrhaft zuträglich ist, und du übst keine Herrschaft über dein Inneres. Obwohl du frei von persönlichem Begehren bist, schulterst du doch unablässig die schwere Last des Königtums — darum werden dein eigenes Wohl und deine Selbstzucht nicht voll entfaltet.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma highlights a tension between inner welfare (śreyaḥ) and external responsibility: even a desireless person can fail to cultivate self-mastery if overburdened by the weight of rulership. True ethical life requires not only dispassion but also deliberate pursuit of one’s highest good and governance of the mind.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma after the war, Bhīṣma addresses the king’s condition: despite being personally free from craving, the king remains weighed down by the ongoing responsibilities of the realm. Bhīṣma diagnoses this burden as the reason the king is not fully attending to his own spiritual-ethical welfare and inner discipline.