Shloka 40
Haṃsa–Sādhya Saṃvāda: Satya, Dama, Kṣamā and the Discipline of Speech
पुंस्त्वोपघातं कालेन दर्शनोपरमं तथा । बाधिरय॑ प्राणमन्दत्वं यः पश्यति स मुच्यते,“समय आनेपर पुरुषत्व नष्ट हो जाता है, आँखोंसे दिखायी नहीं देता है, कान बहरे हो जाते हैं और प्राणशक्ति अत्यन्त क्षीण हो जाती है। इन सब बातोंको जो सदा देखता और इनपर विचार करता रहता है, वह संसार-बन्धनसे मुक्त हो जाता है”
puṁstvopaghātaṁ kālena darśanoparamaṁ tathā | bādhiryaṁ prāṇamandatvaṁ yaḥ paśyati sa mucyate ||
Bhishma said: “In due course, time strikes down manly vigor; sight too comes to an end; hearing turns to deafness; and the vital force grows exceedingly weak. One who steadily observes these realities and reflects upon them becomes freed from worldly bondage.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Contemplation of impermanence—how time inevitably erodes strength, senses, and vitality—cultivates dispassion (vairāgya) and loosens attachment, leading toward liberation from saṁsāra.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and the path to inner peace; here he emphasizes reflective awareness of aging and decline as a practical means to detach from worldly clinging.