Shloka 51
अध्याय १७८ — प्राणवायुगतिः तथा शारीराग्निव्यवस्था
Adhyāya 178 — The courses of prāṇa-vāyu and the regulation of the bodily fire
यच्च कामसुखं लोके यच्च दिव्यं महत्सुखम् । तृष्णाक्षयसुखस्यैते नाहत: षोडशीं कलाम्,“इस लोकमें जो विषयोंका सुख है तथा परलोकमें जो दिव्य एवं महान् सुख है, ये दोनों प्रकारके सुख तृष्णाके क्षयसे होनेवाले सुखकी सोलहवीं कलाके भी बराबर नहीं हैं
yacca kāmasukhaṁ loke yacca divyaṁ mahatsukham | tṛṣṇākṣayasukhasyaite nāhataḥ ṣoḍaśīṁ kalām ||
Bhishma berkata: “Kenikmatan dari objek-objek indria di dunia ini, dan kebahagiaan besar yang ilahi yang disebut ada di alam sana—keduanya bahkan tidak menyamai seperenam belas dari kebahagiaan yang lahir dari lenyapnya dahaga (tṛṣṇā).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sense-pleasures (kāma-sukha) and even celestial delights are inferior to the joy of tṛṣṇā-kṣaya—ending craving. The verse elevates inner freedom and contentment over external enjoyment, presenting renunciation of thirst as the highest happiness.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the means to peace after the war. Here he emphasizes a renunciant ethical insight: lasting happiness comes from extinguishing craving, not from accumulating pleasures in this world or the next.