Shloka 12
शुकस्य योगसिद्धिः (Śuka’s Yogic Attainment and Ascent)
जरामृत्यू हि भूतानां खादितारी वृकाविव । बलिनां दुर्बलानां च हस्वानां महतामपि,कोई बलवान हों या दुर्बल, बड़ा हों या छोटा, उन सब प्राणियोंको बुढ़ापा और मौत व्याप्रकी भाँति खा जाती है
jarāmṛtyū hi bhūtānāṁ khāditārī vṛkāv iva | balināṁ durbalānāṁ ca hrasvānāṁ mahatām api ||
Bhīṣma said: “Indeed, old age and death devour all living beings like two wolves—whether one is strong or weak, whether small or great. Thus no embodied creature can claim exemption from decline and mortality.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That aging and death are universal and unavoidable; strength, weakness, size, or status do not protect any embodied being. The ethical implication is to cultivate detachment, humility, and dharmic living rather than pride in temporary advantages.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and right conduct, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira by emphasizing the inevitability of decline and death, using the vivid image of two wolves to underscore how all creatures are consumed by time-bound existence.