Shloka 24
प्रजापतयः देवगणाश्च दिशि-दिशि स्थिताः ऋषयः
Prajāpatis, Deva-Groups, and the Ṛṣis Assigned to the Directions
मत्स्यो यथा स्रोत इवाभिपाती तथा कृतं पूर्वमुपैति कर्म । शुभे त्वसौ तुष्यति दुष्कृते तु नतुष्यते वै परम: शरीरी,जैसे मछली जलके बहावके साथ बह जाती है, उसी प्रकार मनुष्य पहिलेके किये हुए कर्मका अनुसरण करता है। उसे उस कर्मप्रवाहमें बहना पड़ता है; परंतु उस दशामें वह श्रेष्ठ देहधारी जीव शुभ फल मिलनेपर तो संतुष्ट होता है और अशुभ फल प्राप्त होनेपर दुखी हो जाता है (यह उसकी मूढता ही तो है)
matsyo yathā srota iva abhipātī tathā kṛtaṃ pūrvam upaiti karma | śubhe tv asau tuṣyati duṣkṛte tu na tuṣyate vai paramaḥ śarīrī ||
Bhishma said: “Just as a fish is carried along by the current of a stream, so a person is borne onward by the force of deeds done before. Yet, while being swept along in that flow of karma, the embodied self—though in truth supreme—becomes pleased when a favorable result arrives and becomes distressed when an unfavorable result is met. This reaction is precisely the mark of delusion.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Past actions propel the embodied being like a current carries a fish; wisdom lies in not being mentally elated by pleasant outcomes or crushed by painful ones, recognizing such reactive satisfaction and distress as delusion.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira using a vivid metaphor to explain how beings are driven by prior karma and why one should cultivate equanimity toward the fruits that inevitably arise.