Shloka 15
Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: On the Superiority of Giving
Maitreya–Vyāsa Exemplum
भीष्म उवाच इत्युक्त:ः स तु तं प्राह कुत: कीट सुखं तव । मरणं ते सुखं मन्ये तिर्यग्योनौ तु वर्तसे
bhīṣma uvāca: ity uktaḥ sa tu taṃ prāha kutaḥ kīṭa sukhaṃ tava | maraṇaṃ te sukhaṃ manye tiryagyonau tu vartase ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Setelah itu diucapkan, ia menjawabnya: ‘Wahai cacing, dari mana datang kebahagiaanmu? Menurutku, kematian justru akan menjadi kebahagiaan bagimu, sebab engkau berada dalam kelahiran tiriyaṅ (kelahiran hewani).’”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral judgment about the quality of life shaped by one’s state of existence (yoni). It implies that a degraded condition (tiryag-yoni) is so bound by limitation and suffering that even death may be seen as preferable—prompting reflection on karma, ethical conduct, and the causes that lead to higher or lower births.
Bhīṣma reports a dialogue in which someone, after being addressed, responds sharply to a ‘worm’ (kīṭa), questioning how it can claim happiness and asserting that death would be a relief for it because it lives in a non-human birth.