Shloka 20
आशयन्त्यपि मामन्न॑ पुनर्बहुगुणं बहु । पुनरल्पं पुन:स्तोकं पुनर्नैवोपपद्यते,'फिर कितने ही लोग आकर मुझे अनेक गुणोंसे सम्पन्न बहुत-सा अन्न खिला देते हैं। पुनः कभी बहुत थोड़ा, कभी थोड़े-से भी थोड़ा भोजन मिलता है और कभी वह भी नहीं मिलता
āśayanty api mām annaṃ punar bahuguṇaṃ bahu | punar alpaṃ punaḥ stokaṃ punar naivopapadyate ||
Bhīṣma said: “Even while I am being cared for, people come again and again and feed me abundant food, rich in many qualities. Yet at other times I receive only a little—sometimes a mere morsel—and sometimes not even that. Thus, what comes to one in life is uneven and uncertain.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the instability of worldly provisions: at times one receives abundance, at times only a little, and at times nothing. The ethical implication is to cultivate endurance, contentment, and detachment rather than entitlement or resentment.
Bhishma, speaking in the Shanti Parva, reflects on his experience of being tended and fed: different people bring him food of varying quantity and quality, and sometimes none arrives. He uses this observation to underscore the unpredictability of material support in life.