Shloka 8
Adhyāya 179 — Bharadvāja’s Reductionist Inquiry into Jīva and Pañcabhūta Dissolution
भीष्म उवाच आशा बलवती राजन नैराश्यं परमं सुखम् । आशा निराशां कृत्वा तु सुखं स्वपिति पिड्रला,भीष्मजी कहते हैं--राजन्! बोध्यको अपने गुरुओंसे जो उपदेश प्राप्त हुआ था, वह इस प्रकार समझना चाहिये--आशा बड़ी प्रबल है। वही सबको दुःख देती है। निराशा ही परम सुख है। आशाको निराशाके रूपमें परिणत करके पिंगला वेश्या सुखसे सो गयी। (पिंगला आशाके त्यागका उपदेश देनेके कारण गुरु हुई)
bhīṣma uvāca | āśā balavatī rājan nairāśyaṃ paramaṃ sukham | āśāṃ nirāśāṃ kṛtvā tu sukhaṃ svapiti piṅgalā ||
Bhishma said: “O King, hope is exceedingly powerful; it is hope that drives beings into distress. Freedom from hope—the abandonment of expectation—is the highest happiness. Having turned hope into hopelessness, the courtesan Pingalā slept in peace.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hope as craving and expectation is a powerful force that breeds anxiety and sorrow; the highest happiness comes from nairāśya—relinquishing expectation. When one abandons the restless demand for outcomes, the mind becomes calm and capable of true rest.
Bhishma instructs the king by citing Pingalā as an example: after exhausting herself in expectation, she abandons hope and, with that inner renunciation, attains peace and sleeps happily. The episode functions as a moral illustration within Bhishma’s counsel on self-mastery and tranquility.