Shloka 37
Adhyāya 180: Jīva, Śarīra, and the Fire Analogy (भृगु–भरद्वाज संवादः)
भीष्म उवाच अजगरचरितं व्रतं महात्मा य इह नरो<नुचरेद् विनीतराग: । अपगतभयलो भमोहमन्यु: स खलु सुखी विचरेदिमं विहारम्,भीष्मजी कहते हैं-राजन्! जो महापुरुष राग, भय, लोभ, मोह और क्रोधको त्यागकर इस आजगर व्रतका पालन करता है, वह इस लोकमें सानन्द विचरण करता है
bhīṣma uvāca | ajagaracaritaṁ vrataṁ mahātmā ya iha naro 'nucared vinītarāgaḥ | apagatabhayalobhamohamanyuḥ sa khalu sukhī vicared imaṁ vihāram ||
Bhishma said: O King, that noble person who, in this world, follows the vow modeled on the python’s way of life—having subdued attachment and having cast off fear, greed, delusion, and anger—truly lives happily, moving through life in calm freedom.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Happiness and freedom in life arise from disciplined restraint: practicing the ‘ajagara-vrata’ (a life of simplicity and non-grasping) and abandoning attachment along with fear, greed, delusion, and anger.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to the king, Bhishma recommends an ascetic-ethical model called the ‘ajagara’ (python) observance, praising the person who lives without craving and without the inner enemies of fear, greed, delusion, and anger.