Shloka 83

Devanagari script

लाभालाभौ सुखं दु:खं कामक्रोधौ भवाभवौ

Transliteration

lābhālābhau sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ kāmakrodhau bhavābhavau

Translation

Bhīṣma spricht: Gewinn und Verlust, Freude und Schmerz, Begehren und Zorn, Werden und Nicht-Werden — diese paarweisen Zustände entstehen im weltlichen Leben. Man soll sie als Gegensätze erkennen, die kommen und gehen, und daher nicht zulassen, dass sie die Standhaftigkeit im Dharma erschüttern.

Word by Word

लाभालाभौgain and non-gain (loss)

सुखंhappiness/pleasure

दुःखंsorrow/pain

कामक्रोधौdesire and anger

भवाभवौexistence and non-existence (becoming and non-becoming)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse groups life’s opposites—gain/loss, pleasure/pain, desire/anger, becoming/non-becoming—to highlight their fluctuating nature. The ethical lesson is to cultivate steadiness and self-control, not allowing these changing conditions to derail one’s commitment to dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous living and inner discipline after the war. Here he succinctly lists paired worldly states and impulses as part of his broader counsel on detachment and mental balance.