Shloka 7
यथैव श्ज् गो: काले वर्धमानस्य वर्धते । तथैव तृष्णा वित्तेन वर्धमानेन वर्धते,जिस प्रकार समयानुसार बड़े होते हुए बछड़ेका सींग भी उसके शरीरके साथ ही बढ़ता है, उसी प्रकार बढ़ते हुए धनके साथ उसकी तृष्णा भी बढ़ती जाती है
yathaiva śṛṅgaṃ goḥ kāle vardhamānasya vardhate | tathaiva tṛṣṇā vittena vardhamānena vardhate ||
Bhīṣma said: Just as a cow’s horn grows along with the calf as time passes and it matures, so too does craving grow along with wealth as it increases. The teaching is that accumulation does not naturally bring contentment; without restraint, prosperity becomes fuel for ever-expanding desire.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Desire is not satisfied by acquiring more; it tends to expand with increased wealth. Therefore, ethical life requires restraint (dama), contentment (santoṣa), and discernment, rather than trusting accumulation to end craving.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct after the war. Here he uses a simple rural analogy—how a horn grows with the calf—to illustrate a moral psychology: wealth often makes craving grow, not shrink.