Shloka 24
Kṣemadarśa–Kālakavṛkṣīya Saṃvāda: Counsel on Impermanence, Non-attachment, and Composure in Dispossession
न च त्वमिव शोचन्ति तस्मात् त्वमपि मा शुच: । किं न त्वं तैनरे: श्रेयांस्तुल्यो वा बुद्धिपौरुषै:
na ca tvam iva śocanti tasmāt tvam api mā śucaḥ | kiṁ na tvaṁ tair nareḥ śreyān tulyo vā buddhi-pauruṣaiḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Others do not grieve as you do; therefore you too should not grieve. Are you not equal to those men—or even superior to them—in intelligence and manly effort? Even those who are not wealthy still live, and some even govern kingdoms; among them are persons equal to you in discernment and valor, and some may be greater. Yet they do not sink into sorrow as you do. Therefore, abandon grief.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma urges restraint over grief: sorrow is not a mark of wisdom or strength. One should measure oneself by buddhi (discernment) and pauruṣa (steadfast effort) and, like capable people who continue living and ruling despite hardship, cultivate composure and proceed with duty.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs and consoles the listener (the king seeking guidance after the war). Here he rebukes excessive lamentation, pointing out that many people—some equal or superior in intellect and valor—endure life’s conditions without collapsing into grief; thus the addressee should also abandon sorrow.