Shloka 32
भृगु–भरद्वाजसंवादः: वर्णभेदस्य कर्माधारितव्याख्या
Bhrigu–Bharadvaja Dialogue: A Karma-Based Account of Varṇa
यानि चान्यानि भूतेषु भक्ष्यजातानि कस्यचित् | येषाम भुक्तपूर्वाणि तेषामस्मृतिरेव ते,'प्राणियोंमें किसीके भी जो अन्यान्य भक्ष्य पदार्थ हैं, जिनका तुमने पहले उपभोग नहीं किया है, उन भोजनोंकी स्मृति तुमको कभी नहीं होगी
yāni cānyāni bhūteṣu bhakṣyajātāni kasyacit | yeṣām abhuktapūrvāṇi teṣām asmṛtir eva te ||
Bhishma said: “Whatever other kinds of edible foods exist among living beings, if you have never consumed them before, then you will not even retain a memory of those foods. In this way, craving is checked by the principle that desire follows experience and recollection; what is not known through prior enjoyment does not become an object of persistent longing.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Desire and craving depend on prior experience and the memory of enjoyment; what one has never tasted or enjoyed does not become a persistent object of longing. Hence restraint is supported by guarding experience and recollection.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma continues his instruction on dharma and ethical self-governance, explaining how the mind’s attachment to pleasures arises through prior consumption and remembrance, thereby advising a practical psychology of restraint.