Shloka 13
Vimokṣa-niścaya: Pañcaśikha’s Analysis of Aggregates, Guṇas, and Tyāga (मोक्षनिर्णयः)
यद्वत् कान्तारमातिष्ठ न्नौत्सुक्यं समनुव्रजेत् । ग्राम्यमाहारमादद्यादस्वाद्गपि हि यापनम्,जैसे वनमें रहनेवाला संन्यासी स्वादिष्ट अन्न (मिठाई आदि)-के लिये उत्सुक नहीं होता। वह शरीर-निर्वाहके लिये स्वाधीन रूखा-सूखा ग्रामीण आहार भी ग्रहण कर लेता है, उसी प्रकार संसाररूपी वनमें रहनेवाला गृहस्थ परिश्रममें संलग्न हो जीवन-निर्वाहमात्रके लिये शुद्ध सात््विक आहार ग्रहण करे। ठीक उसी तरह, जैसे रोगी जीवनरक्षाके लिये औषध सेवन करता है
yadvat kāntāram ātiṣṭhan nautsukyaṃ samanuvrajet | grāmyaṃ āhāram ādad yād asvādag api hi yāpanam ||
Bhīṣma said: “Just as one who dwells in the wilderness does not chase cravings, but accepts even plain, rustic food—though tasteless—simply to keep the body going, so too should a householder living in the forest-like world, engaged in honest effort, take pure and sāttvika food only for bare maintenance, as a sick person takes medicine solely to preserve life.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not let taste and luxury drive one’s life. Accept simple, pure food only to sustain the body, treating nourishment like medicine—necessary for duty, not an object of indulgence.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous living. Here he uses the example of a forest-dwelling ascetic who eats plain food without craving, applying the same principle to the householder living amid worldly pressures.