Shloka 60
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
तमः श्वभ्रनिभं दृष्टवा वर्षबुद्बुदसंनिभम् । नाशप्रायं सुखाद्धीनं नाशोत्तरमिहावशम्
tamaḥ śvabhranibhaṁ dṛṣṭvā varṣabudbudasaṁnibham | nāśaprāyaṁ sukhāddhīnaṁ nāśottaram ihāvaśam, rājan bharatanandana |
ભીષ્મે કહ્યું—હે રાજન, ભરતવંશના આનંદ! તેઓ આ લોકને અંધકારથી ભરેલા ઊંડા ખાડા સમાન ભયંકર, વર્ષાકાળના બબ્બુલા સમાન ક્ષણભંગુર, નાશની નજીક, સુખથી રહિત અને વિનાશ તરફ વિવશ રીતે ધકેલાતો જુએ છે.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches dispassion through clear seeing: worldly life is dark, unstable, and ends in destruction; therefore the wise cultivate knowledge and discernment, restrain themselves through austerity, and cut attachment—not only to coarse rajasic-tamasic cravings but also to subtle, pleasant sattvic enjoyments that still bind the self to bodily experience.
In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Bhishma instructs King Yudhishthira on liberation-oriented ethics. Here he uses vivid metaphors (pit of darkness, foam, painted image, rain-bubbles, elephant in mire) to describe saṁsāra’s fragility and bondage, urging the king to value discriminative wisdom and disciplined renunciation over attachment to family and sensory life.