Shloka 11
रात्र्यां रात्र्यां व्यतीतायामायुरल्पतरं यदा । गाधोदके मत्स्य इव सुखं विन्देत कस्तदा,जब प्रत्येक रात बीतनेके बाद आयु क्षीण होकर कुछ-न-कुछ थोड़ी होती चली जा रही है, तब छिछले पानीमें रहनेवाली मछलीके समान कौन सुख पा सकता है?
rātryāṁ rātryāṁ vyatītāyām āyur alpataram yadā | gāḍhodake matsya iva sukhaṁ vindeta kas tadā ||
Bhīṣma said: “As each night passes, life grows ever shorter. When one’s lifespan is steadily being diminished in this way, who could truly find happiness—like a fish struggling in shallow water?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time relentlessly reduces one’s remaining life; therefore complacent pleasure is fragile and often illusory. The verse urges urgency in dharma and inner discipline, since worldly comfort cannot be secure when life is steadily running out.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous living and the realities of human existence. Here he uses a vivid simile—like a fish in shallow water—to stress how difficult it is to attain genuine ease while one’s lifespan is continually diminishing.