Shloka 32
भृगु–भरद्वाजसंवादः: वर्णभेदस्य कर्माधारितव्याख्या
Bhrigu–Bharadvaja Dialogue: A Karma-Based Account of Varṇa
यानि चान्यानि भूतेषु भक्ष्यजातानि कस्यचित् | येषाम भुक्तपूर्वाणि तेषामस्मृतिरेव ते
yāni cānyāni bhūteṣu bhakṣyajātāni kasyacit | yeṣām abhuktapūrvāṇi teṣām asmṛtir eva te ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Quels que soient les autres aliments comestibles qui existent parmi les êtres vivants, si tu ne les as jamais consommés auparavant, tu n’en garderas même pas le souvenir. Ainsi la convoitise est contenue par ce principe : le désir suit l’expérience et la mémoire ; ce qui n’a pas été connu par une jouissance antérieure ne devient pas l’objet d’un long attachement.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Desire and craving depend on prior experience and the memory of enjoyment; what one has never tasted or enjoyed does not become a persistent object of longing. Hence restraint is supported by guarding experience and recollection.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma continues his instruction on dharma and ethical self-governance, explaining how the mind’s attachment to pleasures arises through prior consumption and remembrance, thereby advising a practical psychology of restraint.