Shloka 12
प्रजाविसर्ग-तत्त्वनिर्णयः | Cosmogony of Elemental Emergence
Bharadvāja–Bhṛgu Dialogue
जब-जब एक-एक रात बीतनेके साथ ही आयु बहुत कम होती चली जा रही है, तब छिछले जलमें रहनेवाली मछलीके समान कौन सुख पा सकता है? ।। (यस्यां रात्र्यां व्यतीतायां न किंचिच्छुभमाचरेत् ।) तदैव वन्ध्यं दिवसमिति विद्याद् विचक्षण: । अनवाप्तेषु कामेषु मृत्युरभ्येति मानवम्,जिस रातके बीतनेपर मनुष्य कोई शुभ कर्म न करे, उस दिनको दिद्वान् पुरुष “व्यर्थ ही गया” समझे। मनुष्यकी कामनाएँ पूरी भी नहीं होने पातीं कि मौत उसके पास आ पहुँचती है
yasyāṁ rātryāṁ vyatītāyāṁ na kiñcit śubham ācaret | tadaiva vandhyaṁ divasam iti vidyād vicakṣaṇaḥ | anavāpteṣu kāmeṣu mṛtyur abhyeti mānavam |
Bhishma said: “When a night passes and a person has not performed any auspicious or wholesome deed, the discerning should know that day to have been barren—wasted. For death advances upon a human being while desires still remain unfulfilled. As life diminishes night by night, who can truly find happiness, like a fish confined to shallow water?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time is steadily consuming life; therefore one should not let a day pass without some śubha (wholesome, dharmic) action. A day without good conduct is ‘vandhya’—fruitless—because death may arrive before one’s desires are fulfilled.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma addresses Yudhishthira with ethical counsel. Here he emphasizes urgency and vigilance: nights pass, lifespan shrinks, and death approaches unexpectedly, so one must actively practice dharma rather than postponing it.