Shloka 21
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
तेषां परमदु:खानां बुद्धया भैषज्यमाचरेत् । लोकथर्ममवज्ञाय ध्रुवाणामध्रुवै: सह
teṣāṃ paramaduḥkhānāṃ buddhyā bhaiṣajyam ācaret | lokadharmam avajñāya dhruvāṇām adhruvaiḥ saha ||
Terhadap penderitaan yang paling berat dan tak terelakkan itu, hendaknya seseorang dengan kejernihan budi menempuh obat (upaya) yang tepat. Dengan mengabaikan dharma duniawi yang terikat pada yang tak tetap, carilah penyembuhan bagi yang pasti, bukan melekat pada yang fana.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Use discernment to address inevitable, profound suffering by seeking a true remedy (inner cure), and do not be ruled by conventional worldly pursuits and attachments that depend on impermanent things.
Bhishma, in his Shanti Parva instruction, advises the listener to turn from ordinary social preoccupations tied to the transient and instead apply thoughtful effort toward the remedy for the certain and recurring sorrows of embodied life.