Shloka 83
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
लाभालाभौ सुखं दु:खं कामक्रोधौ भवाभवौ
lābhālābhau sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ kāmakrodhau bhavābhavau
Bhīṣma says: Gain and loss, pleasure and pain, desire and anger, becoming and non-becoming—these paired conditions arise in worldly life. One should recognize them as opposites that come and go, and therefore not let them shake one’s steadiness in dharma.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse groups life’s opposites—gain/loss, pleasure/pain, desire/anger, becoming/non-becoming—to highlight their fluctuating nature. The ethical lesson is to cultivate steadiness and self-control, not allowing these changing conditions to derail one’s commitment to dharma.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous living and inner discipline after the war. Here he succinctly lists paired worldly states and impulses as part of his broader counsel on detachment and mental balance.