Shloka 25
Vipula’s Yogic Protection of the Guru’s Household (विपुलस्य योगरक्षा / Vipulasya Yogarakṣā)
नाग्निस्तृप्यति काष्ठानां नापगानां महोदधि: । नानतकः सर्वभूतानां न पुंसां वामलोचना:
nāgnis tṛpyati kāṣṭhānāṁ nāpagānāṁ mahodadhiḥ | nāntakaḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ na puṁsāṁ vāmalocanāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: Fire is never satisfied by fuel, nor is the great ocean ever satisfied by the rivers that flow into it. Antaka (Death), even if it were to seize all living beings at once, would still not be satisfied. In the same way, women with charming eyes are never satisfied with men.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That some drives—especially craving and acquisitiveness—do not naturally end through indulgence; they intensify like fire fed by wood or the ocean receiving rivers. Therefore dharma emphasizes restraint (dama), discrimination (viveka), and moderation rather than feeding limitless desire.
Bhīṣma is delivering moral instruction in the Anuśāsana Parva, using vivid natural analogies (fire, ocean, death) to caution about insatiability and to guide conduct and self-governance.