Shloka 39
Kṣemadarśa–Kālakavṛkṣīya Saṃvāda: Counsel on Impermanence, Non-attachment, and Composure in Dispossession
रममाण: श्रिया वक्षिन्नान्यच्छेयो5भिमन्यते । तथा तस्येहमानस्य समारम्भो विनश्यति
ramamāṇaḥ śriyā vakṣi nānyac chreyo 'bhimanyate | tathā tasyehamānasya samārambho vinaśyati ||
Bhīṣma said: “A man, delighting in wealth and prosperity, imagines that there is no higher good than that. Thus he remains intent on the pursuit of gain; yet, even while he strives, his undertakings here can suddenly be ruined by fate.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment to wealth can blind a person to higher welfare (śreyaḥ). Even intense effort aimed only at acquisition is unstable, because fortune can overturn worldly enterprises; therefore one should not treat wealth as the supreme good.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction in the Śānti Parva, he warns about the mindset of those who revel in prosperity and pursue only accumulation, noting that their projects may be abruptly destroyed by destiny, underscoring the need for a dharmic perspective beyond mere gain.