Shloka 13
उपानीतं तु पानीयं दृष्टवा शान्तनवोडब्रवीत् | नाद्यातीता मया शक््या भोगा: केचन मानुषा:
sañjaya uvāca | upānītaṃ tu pānīyaṃ dṛṣṭvā śāntanavo 'bravīt | nādyātītā mayā śakyā bhogāḥ kecin mānuṣāḥ |
Sañjaya dit : Voyant l’eau qu’on avait apportée, Bhīṣma, fils de Śāntanu, déclara : « À présent, je ne puis plus prendre part à aucun plaisir humain ; je les ai renoncés. Bien que je sois étendu ici sur un lit de flèches, j’ai dépassé la condition ordinaire des hommes. Je demeure seulement, attendant que le soleil et la lune se tournent vers la course du nord. »
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma models vairagya (detachment): even amid extreme suffering he refuses ordinary comforts, indicating that one who has consciously turned toward the higher good should not be ruled by sense-pleasures. His waiting for uttarāyaṇa underscores disciplined, dharmic self-mastery and a deliberate, mindful approach to death.
On the battlefield, Bhishma lies on a bed of arrows. When water is brought to him, he declines, declaring he has left behind human enjoyments and is remaining alive only to await the auspicious northern course (uttarāyaṇa) before departing.