Shloka 47
येन क्षराक्षरे वित्ते भयं तस्य न विद्यते । विद्यते तु भयं तस्य यो नैतदू वेत्ति पार्थिव,पृथ्वीनाथ! जिसने क्षर और अक्षरके तत्त्वको जान लिया है, उसमें किसी प्रकारका भी भय नहीं होता। जो इसे नहीं जानता, उसीमें भय रहता है
yena kṣarākṣare vitte bhayaṁ tasya na vidyate | vidyate tu bhayaṁ tasya yo naitad veti pārthiva pṛthvīnātha ||
Bhīṣma said: “For one who has truly understood the perishable and the imperishable, fear does not exist. But fear remains for the one who does not know this—O king, lord of the earth.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Fear is rooted in ignorance. When one discerns the difference between the changing (kṣara) and the unchanging (akṣara), one no longer clings to what must pass away and becomes steady in what endures; thus fear subsides.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs the king on dharma and higher wisdom. Here he emphasizes a contemplative doctrine—knowing the perishable and imperishable—as a practical ethical remedy for fear and instability.