Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 13

Dvaipāyana–Kīṭa Saṃvāda: Karmic Memory, Fear of Death, and Embodied Pleasure

Devanagari script

रसं च प्रतिजिह्नाया ज्ञान प्रज्ञायते यथा । तथा शास्त्रेषु नियतं रागो ह्यास्वादिताद्‌ भवेत्‌

Transliteration

rasaṃ ca pratijihvāyā jñānaṃ prajñāyate yathā | tathā śāstreṣu niyataṃ rāgo hy āsvāditād bhavet ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dijo: «Así como la lengua, al reconocer un sabor, se siente naturalmente atraída hacia él, del mismo modo enseñan firmemente las Escrituras que el apego nace de aquello que se ha probado y gozado. Por eso, la indulgencia repetida en los objetos de los sentidos—como el deleite de la carne—fortalece el ansia en vez de aquietarla.»

Word by Word

• {'rasa (रस)': 'taste

• relish (also ‘aesthetic relish’ in other contexts)', 'jihvā (जिह्वा)': 'tongue', 'pratijihvāyāḥ (प्रतिजिह्वायाः)': 'of/for the tongue in relation to taste (contextual: ‘with respect to the tongue’)', 'jñānam (ज्ञानम्)': 'cognition

• awareness', 'prajñāyate (प्रज्ञायते)': 'is understood/recognized

• becomes known', 'yathā (यथा)': 'just as', 'tathā (तथा)': 'so

• in the same way', 'śāstreṣu (शास्त्रेषु)': 'in the scriptures

• in authoritative teachings', 'niyatam (नियतम्)': 'fixed

• certain', 'rāgaḥ (रागः)': 'attachment

• craving', 'hi (हि)': 'indeed

• for', 'āsvāditāt (आस्वादितात्)': 'from what has been tasted/enjoyed', 'bhavet (भवेत्)': 'arises

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• tongue (jihvā)
• taste (rasa)
• scriptures (śāstra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Enjoyment of sense-objects tends to generate and intensify attachment (rāga). Therefore, ethical discipline recommends restraint: repeated tasting and indulgence do not satisfy desire; they condition the mind toward further craving.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma continues instructing on dharma and right conduct. Here he uses a simple analogy—how the tongue becomes attracted after tasting—to explain a broader scriptural principle about how attachment forms through sensory experience.