Shloka 11
सुखं जीवन्ति मुनयो भैक्ष्यवृत्ति समाश्रिता: । अद्रोहेणैव भूतानां सारड्रा इव पक्षिण:,जिस प्रकार पपीहा पक्षी किसी भी प्राणीसे वैर न करके याचनावृत्तिसे अपना निर्वाह करते हैं, उसी प्रकार मुनिजन भिक्षावृत्तिका आश्रय लेकर सुखसे जीवन व्यतीत करते हैं (अद्रोहका उपदेश देनेके कारण पपीहा गुरु हुआ)
sukhaṃ jīvanti munayo bhaikṣya-vṛtti-samāśritāḥ | adroheṇaiva bhūtānāṃ sāraṅgā iva pakṣiṇaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Sages live happily by taking refuge in the way of life sustained by alms. Like the sāraṅga birds, they maintain themselves without hostility toward any living being—harmless, uncontentious, and dependent on what is freely given.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A life grounded in non-hostility (adroha) and simplicity—accepting alms without harming or opposing any being—brings inner ease; harmlessness and restraint are presented as the ethical foundation of ascetic livelihood.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma teaches by analogy: he points to sages who live on alms and compares them to birds that subsist without enmity, emphasizing peaceful conduct and non-violence as a model for righteous living.