Shloka 16
Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse
बलहीनाश्न कौन्तेय यथा जाल॑ गता झषा: । वधं गच्छन्ति राजेन्द्र योगास्तद्वत् सुदुर्बला:,कुन्तीनन्दन राजेन्द्र! जैसे निर्बल मत्स्य जालमें फँसकर वधको प्राप्त होते हैं, वही दशा योगबलसे सर्वथा रहित मनुष्योंकी भी होती है
balahīnāśnau kaunteya yathā jāla-gatā jhaṣāḥ | vadhaṁ gacchanti rājendra yogās tadvat sudurbalāḥ ||
Bhishma said: “O son of Kunti, just as weak fish, once caught in a net, go to their slaughter, so too do those who are utterly without the strength born of yoga meet the same fate.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual practice must be supported by real inner strength—steadiness, self-control, and resolve. If one’s ‘yoga’ is weak (lacking discipline and power), it cannot protect the practitioner; instead, one becomes vulnerable to downfall, like fish trapped in a net.
In the Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and right conduct. Here he uses a vivid analogy—weak fish caught in a net—to warn that practices or vows undertaken without sufficient inner power and firmness lead to harm rather than liberation.