Shloka 12
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
नैवास्याग्निर्न चारिष्टो न मृत्युर्न च दस्यव: । प्रभवन्ति धनत्यागाद् विमुक्तस्य निराशिष:
naivāsyāgnir na cāriṣṭo na mṛtyur na ca dasyavaḥ | prabhavanti dhanatyāgād vimuktasya nirāśiṣaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Pour celui qui a renoncé aux richesses, s’est affranchi de l’attachement qu’elles suscitent et demeure sans désir, ni le feu ni les présages funestes ne peuvent le dominer ; la mort ne peut lui nuire, et ni voleurs ni brigands ne peuvent prévaloir contre lui.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Renunciation of wealth and the ending of craving (nirāśiṣatā) make a person inwardly unassailable: when attachment is gone, the usual sources of fear—loss, danger, death, and harm from others—lose their power to disturb or dominate him.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right living, Bhishma continues advising about the fruits of detachment. He states that one freed from possessiveness through giving up wealth and desires is not overcome by calamities such as fire, ominous misfortunes, death, or thieves.