Shloka 32
उशनसः (शुक्रस्य) चरितम् — The Account of Uśanā (Śukra): Yoga, Grievance, and Pacification
कस्माद् भूतानि जीवन्ति प्रवर्तन्ते तथा पुनः । किं वा फल परं प्राप्प जीवस्तिष्ठति शाश्वत:
kasmād bhūtāni jīvanti pravartante tathā punaḥ | kiṃ vā phala-paraṃ prāpya jīvas tiṣṭhati śāśvataḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «De quoi les êtres vivants tirent-ils leur vie, et par quoi se remettent-ils en mouvement vers l’action ? Et, ayant atteint quel fruit suprême, le soi individuel (jīva) demeure-t-il—impérissable et éternel—solidement établi dans son état véritable ?»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical inquiry central to Śānti Parva: (1) the sustaining cause of life in beings, (2) the impulse that drives them into action (karma), and (3) the highest attainment by which the jīva becomes firmly established as eternal. It points toward the later answer that true stability comes not from transient results but from the supreme goal—self-knowledge and liberation—where the self abides beyond change.
In the instruction section of Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues his discourse on dharma and the highest good. Here he poses (or relays) foundational questions about life, action, and the ultimate end of the soul, setting up a teaching sequence that moves from worldly causation and duty toward the highest puruṣārtha—mokṣa.