Shloka 14
Brāhmaṇa-kṛtya, Āśrama-niyama, and Dāna-prasaṃsā
Duties of the Brāhmaṇa, āśrama discipline, and praise of giving
ऋषींश्व देवांश्व महासुरांश्न त्रैविद्यवृद्धांश्व वने मुनींश्व । कान्नापदो नोपनमन्ति लोके परावरज्ञास्तु न सम्भ्रमन्ति
ṛṣīṁś ca devāṁś ca mahāsurāṁś ca traividyavṛddhāṁś ca vane munīṁś ca | kān āpadā na upanamanti loke parāvarajñās tu na sambhramanti ||
Bhishma berkata: “Para resi, para dewa, para asura yang perkasa, para cendekia yang maju dalam pengetahuan tiga Weda, dan para pertapa penghuni rimba—siapakah di antara mereka yang tidak didatangi malapetaka di dunia ini? Namun mereka yang mampu membedakan yang luhur dan yang rendah, yang benar dan yang tidak benar, tidak jatuh ke dalam delusi atau kebingungan ketika kesukaran datang.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
No class of beings—sages, gods, asuras, or learned ascetics—is immune to misfortune; what distinguishes the wise is not the absence of adversity but the presence of discriminative insight (parāvara-jñāna), by which they avoid delusion and remain steady.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma addresses the reality of worldly crises and redirects attention from asking ‘who is spared?’ to recognizing that true spiritual maturity is shown by those who, understanding what is higher/lower and true/false, do not become confused when troubles arise.