Shloka 14
Vimokṣa-niścaya: Pañcaśikha’s Analysis of Aggregates, Guṇas, and Tyāga (मोक्षनिर्णयः)
तद्धत् संसारकान्तारमातिष्ठ न् श्रमतत्पर: । यात्रार्थमद्यादाहारं व्याधितो भेषजं यथा
tadvat saṃsārakāntāram ātiṣṭhan śramatatparaḥ | yātrārtham adyād āhāraṃ vyādhito bheṣajaṃ yathā ||
Así también, habitando en la espesura de la vida mundana y entregado al esfuerzo honrado, debe tomarse el alimento sólo para sostener el viaje de la existencia, como el enfermo toma la medicina: no por placer, sino por preservación.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Food should be taken with restraint and purity, primarily to sustain life and support one’s duties, not to indulge the palate—like medicine taken by a patient for survival rather than enjoyment.
Bhīṣma continues his instruction in the Śānti Parva, using the metaphor of saṃsāra as a dangerous forest to advise disciplined living: the householder should work diligently and eat only what is necessary for maintaining life.