Shloka 3
शल्मलि–पवनसंवादः
The Dialogue of Śalmali and Pavana
महाप्रस्थानमाश्रित्य लुब्धक: पक्षिजीवक: । निश्चेष्टो मरुदाहारो निर्मम: स्वर्गकांक्षया
mahāprasthānam āśritya lubdhakaḥ pakṣijīvakaḥ | niśceṣṭo marudāhāro nirmamaḥ svargakāṅkṣayā ||
Bhishma dit : S’étant placé sous l’égide de la voie du Grand Départ, l’oiseleur—qui vivait des oiseaux—se mit en route. Il renonça à toute activité, prit l’air pour nourriture, et, aspirant au ciel, devint sans attachement, rejetant toute appropriation envers le reste.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights radical renunciation: abandoning worldly striving and possessiveness (nirmamatva) and undertaking severe austerity (living on air) with a transcendent goal in view. Ethically, it contrasts a former livelihood rooted in taking life (a fowler) with a later commitment to self-restraint and detachment.
A fowler who used to sustain himself by catching birds resolves to pursue the 'Great Departure'—a renunciant path associated with final withdrawal from life. He leaves, gives up ordinary activity, practices extreme austerity by subsisting on air, and relinquishes attachment to all else, motivated by the desire for heaven.