Shloka 5
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
तयोरेकतरे मार्गे यदेनमभिसन्नयेत् । न सुखं प्राप्य संहृष्येन्नासुखं प्राप्प संज्वरेत्
tayor ekatare mārge yadenam abhisannayet | na sukhaṃ prāpya saṃhṛṣyen nāsukhaṃ prāpya saṃjvaret ||
Bhishma dit : Si l’Ordonnateur devait mener un homme sur l’une des deux voies — plaisir ou peine — qu’il ne s’enivre pas de joie en obtenant le bonheur, et qu’il ne brûle pas de détresse en tombant dans la souffrance.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Maintain equanimity: do not become intoxicated by happiness or crushed by suffering. Since outcomes may be allotted by the Ordainer, the wise response is steadiness, restraint, and inner balance rather than emotional extremes.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs on dharma and right conduct. Here he advises the listener that when life moves along either of the two inevitable tracks—pleasure or pain—one should remain composed, neither celebrating nor lamenting excessively.