Shloka 131
आत्मनीष्टे तथानिष्टे रिपौ च समता तथा । इच्छाद्वेषक्षयं प्राप्प कामक्रोधक्षयं तथा
ātmanīṣṭe tathāniṣṭe ripau ca samatā tathā | icchādveṣakṣayaṁ prāpya kāmakrodhakṣayaṁ tathā ||
Bhīṣma said: “One should keep the same even-mindedness toward what is pleasing to oneself and what is displeasing, and likewise toward an enemy. By exhausting desire and aversion, one also exhausts craving and anger—thus establishing the inner discipline that supports dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cultivate equanimity toward pleasure and pain and even toward enemies; by weakening desire and aversion, one naturally weakens lust and anger, which are major obstacles to righteous conduct.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on the foundations of peace and dharma after the war; here he emphasizes inner conquest—neutrality toward opposites and the reduction of passions—as a practical ethical discipline.