Shloka 28
Adhyāya 180: Jīva, Śarīra, and the Fire Analogy (भृगु–भरद्वाज संवादः)
इदमिदमिति तृष्णयाभि भूत॑ जनमनवाप्तधनं विषीदमानम् | निपुणमनुनिशम्य तत्त्वबुद्धया व्रतमिदमाजगरं शुचिश्षरामि,“जो यह मिले, वह मिले, इस प्रकार तृष्णासे दबे रहते हैं और धन न मिलनेके कारण निरन्तर विषाद करते हैं; ऐसे लोगोंकी दशा अच्छी तरह देखकर तात््विक बुद्धिसे सम्पन्न हुआ मैं पवित्रभावसे इस आजगरव्रतका आचरण करता हूँ
idam idam iti tṛṣṇayābhibhūtaṁ janam anavāptadhanaṁ viṣīdamānam | nipuṇam anu-niśamya tattvabuddhyā vratam idam ājagaraṁ śuciḥ śarāmi ||
Bhishma said: “People, overpowered by craving, keep thinking, ‘Let this be mine, let that be mine.’ When wealth is not obtained, they sink into continual dejection. Having carefully observed their condition with discerning insight into reality, I, with a purified mind, undertake this ‘python-like’ vow—living without restless pursuit and accepting what comes.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Craving for acquisition (‘this, this’) leads to repeated disappointment and sorrow; therefore one should cultivate truth-based discernment and practice contented non-striving—accepting what comes without anxious pursuit (ājagara-vrata).
Bhishma, instructing on dharma in the Shanti Parva, describes how he has observed people tormented by desire and dejection over wealth, and he declares his own resolve to follow the disciplined, purified life of the ājagara-vrata.