Shloka 2
नृशंस-लक्षणनिर्णयः | Determining the Marks of Cruel Conduct
Nṛśaṃsa
स परित्यज्य शाखाश्न पत्राणि कुसुमानि च । प्रभाते वायुमायान्तं प्रत्यैक्षत वनस्पति:,वह वनस्पति अपनी शाखाओं, पत्तों और फूलोंको त्यागकर प्रात:काल वायुके आनेकी प्रतीक्षा करने लगा
sa parityajya śākhāś ca patrāṇi kusumāni ca | prabhāte vāyum āyāntaṁ pratyaikṣata vanaspatiḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: Having let go of its branches, leaves, and blossoms, the tree waited at daybreak, watching for the wind to arrive—an image of deliberate renunciation and patient readiness for the force that will carry one onward when the time is ripe.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a tree as an ethical metaphor: one should relinquish attachments (what one clings to) and cultivate patient readiness, allowing the appropriate time and rightful force (symbolized by the wind) to move one forward without agitation.
Bhīṣma describes a tree that has shed its branches, leaves, and flowers and, at dawn, attentively waits for the wind to come—setting up an illustrative example within his instruction in the Śānti Parva.