Shloka 18
दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint
Dama
संजातैर्जायते गात्रै: कर्मजैर्वर्ष्मणा वृत: । दुःखाद्यन्तैर्दु:खमध्यैर्नर: शारीरमानसै:
sañjātair jāyate gātraiḥ karmajair varṣmaṇā vṛtaḥ | duḥkhādyantair duḥkhamadhyair naraḥ śārīramānasaiḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : L’homme naît avec des membres qui ont pris forme sous la force des actes passés, revêtu d’un corps entier. Du commencement au milieu et jusqu’à la fin, il demeure accablé de souffrances—du corps et de l’esprit—tant qu’il vit dans l’existence incarnée.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Embodied birth is shaped by karma, and embodied life is pervaded by physical and mental suffering from start to finish; this supports a reflective, renunciatory outlook and a search for liberation beyond mere bodily identification.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction in the Śānti Parva, he describes the human condition: a person takes birth with a karma-formed body and inevitably experiences ongoing bodily and mental distress throughout life.