Shloka 20
Adhyāya 180: Jīva, Śarīra, and the Fire Analogy (भृगु–भरद्वाज संवादः)
आशयन्त्यपि मामन्न॑ पुनर्बहुगुणं बहु । पुनरल्पं पुन:स्तोकं पुनर्नैवोपपद्यते
āśayanty api mām annaṃ punar bahuguṇaṃ bahu | punar alpaṃ punaḥ stokaṃ punar naivopapadyate ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Bahkan ketika aku sedang dirawat, orang-orang datang berulang kali dan memberiku makanan berlimpah, kaya akan banyak keutamaan. Namun pada waktu lain aku hanya menerima sedikit—kadang hanya sejumput—dan kadang bahkan itu pun tidak ada.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the instability of worldly provisions: at times one receives abundance, at times only a little, and at times nothing. The ethical implication is to cultivate endurance, contentment, and detachment rather than entitlement or resentment.
Bhishma, speaking in the Shanti Parva, reflects on his experience of being tended and fed: different people bring him food of varying quantity and quality, and sometimes none arrives. He uses this observation to underscore the unpredictability of material support in life.