Shloka 166
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
तस्य ते मुक्तसड्रस्य पाशानाक्रम्य तिष्ठतः । छत्रादिषु विशेषेषु पुन: सड़: कथ्थ नृप
tasya te muktasaṅgasya pāśān ākrāmya tiṣṭhataḥ | chatrādiṣu viśeṣeṣu punaḥ saṅgaḥ kathaṃ nṛpa ||
Bhīṣma said: “O king, you have heard the complete teaching of liberation—its means and its certainty—and you now stand free from attachment, having trampled down the bonds. How, then, can attachment arise again in particular royal distinctions such as the parasol and other insignia?”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
True liberation is marked by freedom from attachment; once one has understood and internalized the path to mokṣa, clinging to status-symbols (like royal insignia) is inconsistent with that realization.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma admonishes the king: having learned the doctrine of release and having ‘trampled the bonds,’ why does he still feel attraction toward royal privileges and external marks of sovereignty?