Shloka 36
बलीन्द्रसंवादः — Kāla, Anityatā, and the Limits of Agency
Mahābhārata 12.217
सूच्या सूत्र यथा वस्त्रे संसारयति वायक: । तद्वत् संसारसूत्र हि तृष्णासूच्या निबद्धयते
sūcyā sūtraṃ yathā vastre saṃsārayati vāyakaḥ | tadvat saṃsārasūtraṃ hi tṛṣṇāsūcyā nibaddhyate ||
Bhīṣma dit : « De même qu’un tisserand, à l’aide d’une aiguille, fait passer le fil à travers l’étoffe, ainsi le “fil” de l’existence mondaine est fixé et tissé par l’aiguille du désir. C’est le désir qui coud les êtres au saṃsāra et maintient intacte la trame des renaissances et de la souffrance. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Craving (tṛṣṇā) is the binding instrument that ‘stitches’ a being into saṃsāra; by reducing desire, one loosens the very mechanism that keeps worldly bondage continuous.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma and liberation-oriented ethics. Here he uses a vivid craft metaphor—needle, thread, and cloth—to explain how desire functions as the practical cause that binds life to repeated worldly entanglement.