Shloka 33
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
पययिह॒न्यमानानां परित्राता न विद्यते | इदं तु दु:ःखं यच्छक्र कर्ताहमिति मन्यसे,कालक्रमसे जिनपर आघात होता है--स्वयं काल जिन्हें पीड़ा देता है, उनकी रक्षा कोई नहीं कर सकता। शक्र! तुम जो अपनेको इस परिस्थितिका कर्ता मानते हो, यही तुम्हारे लिये दुःखकी बात है
pīḍyamānānāṃ paritrātā na vidyate | idaṃ tu duḥkhaṃ yac chakra kartāham iti manyase ||
Bhīṣma said: “For those who are being afflicted by Time, no protector is to be found. But this is the real sorrow, O Śakra: that you imagine, ‘I am the doer—the cause—of this situation.’”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma points to the overpowering force of Kāla (Time): when beings are afflicted by it, no external protector can truly intervene. The deeper cause of suffering, however, is the delusion of personal doership—thinking “I am the one who caused this,” which binds the mind to grief and ego-based responsibility beyond one’s actual control.
In Śānti Parva’s reflective discourse, Bhīṣma addresses Śakra (Indra) and reframes a situation of distress: rather than seeing events as solely produced by an individual agent, he emphasizes the role of Time and warns that the belief “I am the doer” itself becomes a source of pain.