Shloka 11
प्रजाविसर्ग-तत्त्वनिर्णयः | Cosmogony of Elemental Emergence
Bharadvāja–Bhṛgu Dialogue
रात्र्यां रात्र्यां व्यतीतायामायुरल्पतरं यदा । गाधोदके मत्स्य इव सुखं विन्देत कस्तदा
rātryāṃ rātryāṃ vyatītāyām āyur alpataraṃ yadā | gāḍhodake matsya iva sukhaṃ vindeta kas tadā ||
Bhishma dit : «À mesure que chaque nuit s’écoule, la vie se fait plus courte. Quand la durée de l’existence diminue ainsi sans relâche, qui pourrait trouver un vrai bonheur — tel un poisson qui se débat dans les eaux profondes ?»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time relentlessly reduces one’s remaining life; therefore complacent pleasure is irrational. The verse urges wakefulness, restraint, and purposeful living grounded in dharma rather than chasing fleeting comforts.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on right conduct and the realities of human life. Here he emphasizes the nightly erosion of lifespan to press the listener toward ethical seriousness and inner discipline.