Shloka 24
Adhyāya 214: Tapas Redefined—Perpetual Discipline, Hospitality, and the Ethics of Eating (तपः-निरूपणम्, विघसाशी-अतिथिप्रिय-धर्मः)
ये वै शुक्रगतिं विद्युर्भूतसंकरकारिकाम् । विरागा दग्धदोषास्ते नाप्नुयुर्देहसम्भवम्
ye vai śukragatiṁ vidyur bhūtasaṅkarakārikām | virāgā dagdhadoṣās te nāpnuyur dehasambhavam ||
Mereka yang sungguh memahami bahwa gerak benih (śukra) menjadi sebab percampuran dan kekacauan di antara makhluk yang berjasad, menjadi tanpa keterikatan; setelah membakar habis cela-cela diri, mereka tidak lagi jatuh ke dalam belenggu kelahiran jasmani.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Insight into sexual impulse and procreation as binding forces leads to dispassion (virāga). Through detachment and inner purification (burning doṣas), one avoids further embodiment—i.e., does not return to bodily birth.
In Bhishma’s instruction in the Śānti Parva, he presents an ascetic-ethical point: those who understand the binding consequences of generative desire turn away from it, purify themselves, and thereby escape repeated birth.