Shloka 32
Pitṛ-śrāddha-haviḥ-phala-nirdeśa
Offerings for Ancestors and Their Stated Results
बिलवासं गतांश्रैव निराहारानचेतस: । गतासूनपि संशुष्कान् भूमि: संधारयिष्यति
bilavāsaṃ gatāṃś caiva nirāhārān acetasaḥ | gatāsūn api saṃśuṣkān bhūmiḥ saṃdhārayiṣyati ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: Incluso quienes han ido a morar en agujeros y cavernas—sin alimento, privados de conciencia—sí, aun los cuerpos ya sin vida y resecos, la tierra los seguirá sosteniendo y soportando. Con ello se busca despertar el desapego: el mundo continúa cargando lo inerte y abandonado; por tanto, no debe uno aferrarse al cuerpo ni a la mera supervivencia como al bien supremo, sino buscar lo que de veras sostiene: el dharma y la recta comprensión.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses impermanence and non-attachment: even lifeless, dried bodies are borne by the earth, so one should not treat the body or mere physical endurance as the ultimate aim; instead, one should pursue dharma and inner clarity.
Bhīṣma, in his instruction to the listener in the Anuśāsana Parva, uses a stark image—ascetics or abandoned beings in caves, starving and senseless, even dead—to underline how the world continues regardless, reinforcing a teaching on renunciation and right priorities.