Shloka 55
वृत्ति-सत्सङ्ग-दान-धर्म
Livelihood, Virtuous Association, and Ethics of Giving
अवीनां पित्तभेदश्न सर्वेषामिति न: श्रुतम् । शुकानामपि सर्वेषां हिक्किका प्रोच्यते ज्वर:
avīnāṃ pittabhedaś ca sarveṣām iti naḥ śrutam | śukānām api sarveṣāṃ hikkikā procyate jvaraḥ ||
भीष्म बोले—हमने सुना है कि समस्त भेड़ों में ‘पित्तभेद’ नामक व्याधि ही ज्वर मानी जाती है। इसी प्रकार समस्त तोतों के लिए हिचकी को ही ज्वर कहा गया है।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma conveys a piece of received traditional knowledge: different species may have characteristic ailments that are conventionally classified under ‘fever’ (jvara). The verse illustrates how diagnostic categories can be applied by customary association rather than by a single uniform symptom-set.
Within Bhishma’s long instructional discourse in the Shanti Parva, he cites proverbial/medical observations about animals—sheep and parrots—to support a broader explanatory point about how conditions are named and understood in traditional learning.