Shloka 10
प्रजाविसर्ग-तत्त्वनिर्णयः | Cosmogony of Elemental Emergence
Bharadvāja–Bhṛgu Dialogue
अमोघा रात्रयक्षापि नित्यमायान्ति यान्ति च । यदाहमेतज्जानामि न मृत्युस्तिष्ठतीति ह । सो<हं कथं प्रतीक्षिष्ये जालेनापिहितश्चरन्,ये अमोघ रात्रियाँ नित्य आती हैं और चली जाती हैं। जब मैं इस बातको जानता हूँ कि मृत्यु क्षणभरके लिये भी रुक नहीं सकती और मैं उसके जालमें फँसकर ही विचर रहा हूँ, तब मैं थोड़ी देर भी प्रतीक्षा कैसे कर सकता हूँ?
amoghā rātrayaḥ kṣapāpi nityam āyānti yānti ca | yad aham etaj jānāmi na mṛtyus tiṣṭhatīti ha | so 'haṃ kathaṃ pratīkṣiṣye jālenāpihitaś caran |
Bhishma said: “Unfailing nights—the dark span of each day—continually come and go. Since I know this truth, that Death does not pause even for an instant, and that I move about already covered by its net, how could I possibly wait even a little?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time passes inexorably and death never pauses; therefore one should not postpone what is truly necessary—especially dharmic and spiritual effort. The verse urges urgency, wakefulness, and non-procrastination in the face of mortality.
Bhishma, speaking in the Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, reflects on the relentless passage of nights and the certainty of death. He uses the image of being already caught under Death’s net to justify why delay is unreasonable.