Shloka 10
Adhyāya 179 — Bharadvāja’s Reductionist Inquiry into Jīva and Pañcabhūta Dissolution
गृहारम्भो हि दुःखाय न सुखाय कदाचन । सर्प: परकृतं वेश्म प्रविश्य सुखमेधते
gṛhārambho hi duḥkhāya na sukhāya kadācana | sarpaḥ parakṛtaṃ veśma praviśya sukham edhate ||
Bhīṣma dit : « Entreprendre de bâtir et d’entretenir un foyer est, en vérité, cause de souffrance, jamais de bonheur durable. Considérez le serpent : il entre dans une demeure faite par un autre et y vit à son aise. » Par cette leçon, Bhīṣma loue le non-attachement et la liberté à l’égard du fardeau de l’acquisition, faisant du serpent un « maître » de la vie sans possessivité.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that attachment to building and owning a home brings ongoing trouble and anxiety, whereas freedom from possessiveness—living lightly without ‘mine-ness’—supports peace. The snake exemplifies using what is available without the burden of acquisition.
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he uses a brief analogy: a snake comfortably occupies a dwelling made by others. The point is to counsel a life of minimal entanglement and to discourage obsession with house-building and property.