Shloka 11
Śreyas-nirdeśa (Discerning the Superior Good): Nārada–Gālava Saṃvāda
रात्र्यां रात्र्यां व्यतीतायामायुरल्पतरं यदा । गाधोदके मत्स्य इव सुखं विन्देत कस्तदा
rātryāṁ rātryāṁ vyatītāyām āyur alpataram yadā | gāḍhodake matsya iva sukhaṁ vindeta kas tadā ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «Con cada noche que pasa, la vida se acorta más. Cuando la duración de la existencia se va consumiendo así, ¿quién podría hallar verdadera dicha—como un pez que forcejea en aguas someras?»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time relentlessly reduces one’s remaining life; therefore complacent pleasure is fragile and often illusory. The verse urges urgency in dharma and inner discipline, since worldly comfort cannot be secure when life is steadily running out.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous living and the realities of human existence. Here he uses a vivid simile—like a fish in shallow water—to stress how difficult it is to attain genuine ease while one’s lifespan is continually diminishing.