Shloka 11
Vimokṣa-niścaya: Pañcaśikha’s Analysis of Aggregates, Guṇas, and Tyāga (मोक्षनिर्णयः)
मृन्मयं शरणं यद्वधन्मृदैव परिलिप्यते । पार्थिवो5यं तथा देहो मृद्विकारान्न नश्यति,जैसे मिट॒टीका घर मिट्टीसे ही लीपा जाता है तो सुरक्षित रहता है, उसी प्रकार यह पार्थिव शरीर पृथ्वीके ही विकारभूत अन्न और जलके सेवनसे ही नष्ट नहीं होता है
mṛṇmayaṃ śaraṇaṃ yad vadhān mṛdaiva parilipyate | pārthivo 'yaṃ tathā deho mṛdvikārān na naśyati |
Bhīṣma said: “Just as a shelter made of clay is kept safe when it is plastered again with clay, so too this earthly body is not destroyed merely by taking in what is itself a modification of earth—food and water. What is of the same element sustains it rather than ruining it.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses an analogy to teach that the body, being ‘earthy’ in constitution, is sustained by earthy substances (food and water) rather than harmed by them; it points toward a balanced, element-based understanding of bodily maintenance rather than fear or aversion.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right understanding. Here he illustrates a practical-philosophical point through a homely image—an earthen house protected by clay plaster—to clarify how the body relates to its material causes and supports.