Shloka 181
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
न तु कुण्डे पयोभाव: पयश्चापि न मक्षिका । स्वयमेवाप्रुवन्त्येते भावा ननु पराश्रयम्
na tu kuṇḍe payobhāvaḥ payaścāpi na makṣikā | svayamevāpruvantyete bhāvā nanu parāśrayam ||
भीष्म बोले— फिर भी कुंडी में दुग्धत्व नहीं आ जाता और दूध भी मक्खी नहीं बन जाता। ये अवस्थाएँ अपना स्वभाव छोड़े बिना, स्वयं ही अपने से भिन्न आधार का आश्रय लेती हैं॥
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma uses a simple analogy to show that qualities and states are dependent on an appropriate substratum: a container does not become the contained, and one entity does not transform into an unrelated entity merely by proximity. ‘Bhāvas’ (properties/conditions) inhere by dependence (parāśraya) in something other than themselves.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhīṣma is explaining a philosophical point to clarify how attributes relate to their supports—using the pot, milk, and fly as examples to correct mistaken assumptions about identity, transformation, and dependence.