Shloka 6
एवमुक्त: स वैदेहं प्रत्युवाचापरोक्षवित् । निवृत्तिर्न तयोरस्ति नानिवृत्ति: कथठ्चन,उनके इस प्रकार पूछनेपर अपरोक्ष ज्ञानसे सम्पन्न महर्षि पंचशिखने विदेहगाजको इस प्रकार उत्तर दिया--“जरा और मृत्युकी निवृत्ति नहीं होती है, परंतु ऐसा भी नहीं है कि किसी प्रकार उनकी निवृत्ति हो ही नहीं सकती (धन और ऐश्चर्य आदिसे उनकी निवृत्ति नहीं होती, परंतु ज्ञानसे तो पुनर्जन्मकी भी निवृत्ति हो जाती है; फिर जरा और मृत्युकी तो बात ही क्या?)
evam uktaḥ sa vaidehaṁ pratyuvāca aparokṣavit | nivṛttir na tayor asti nānivṛttiḥ kathaṁcana ||
Thus addressed, the sage—endowed with direct, immediate knowledge—replied to the king of Videha: “There is no absolute cessation of those two—old age and death; yet it is not true that their cessation is impossible in every way. Not through wealth or worldly power are they overcome; but through knowledge the cycle of rebirth itself can be brought to an end—and then what need be said of old age and death?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly means cannot abolish old age and death, but liberating knowledge can end rebirth (saṁsāra); with the end of rebirth, the problem of recurring old age and death is transcended.
Bhishma reports a teaching episode: when the king of Videha questions him, the sage Pañcaśikha—described as a knower of direct realization—answers by distinguishing between ordinary, worldly attempts to avoid aging and death and the deeper spiritual solution of knowledge leading to liberation.