Shloka 11
नारद–असित (देवल) संवादः — भूतप्रभवाप्यय, इन्द्रिय-गुण-विवेक, क्षेत्रज्ञ-तत्त्व
तस्यैवं गततृष्णस्य विज्वरस्य निराशिष: । का विवक्षास्ति वेदेषु निरारम्भस्य सर्वत:
tasyaivaṁ gatatṛṣṇasya vijvarasya nirāśiṣaḥ | kā vivakṣāsti vedeṣu nirārambhasya sarvataḥ ||
Bhishma said: “For one who has gone beyond craving, who is free from inner fever and agitation, who expects nothing, and who has renounced all undertakings on every side—what motive could there be to speak about the Vedas at all? Why, then, do you utter contrary words regarding the Vedas, which are said to have issued forth like the very breath of the Supreme Lord?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links true renunciation—freedom from craving, agitation, expectation, and worldly undertakings—with a state where argumentative or self-interested speech about scripture loses its purpose. It also affirms the sanctity of the Vedas as originating from the Supreme, implying that speaking ‘contrary’ to them is ethically and spiritually suspect.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma challenges a position that appears to disparage or contradict the Vedas. He argues that a genuinely desireless, tranquil renunciant would have no agenda-driven reason to attack or distort Vedic authority, especially given the traditional view that the Vedas emanate from the Supreme Lord.