Shloka 120
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
जातमात्रं तु तद्गरूपं दृष्टवा ताम्रनखाड्गुलि । कौमारं रूपमापन्नं रूपतो नोपलभ्यते
jātamātraṃ tu tad rūpaṃ dṛṣṭvā tāmranakhāṅguli | kaumāraṃ rūpam āpannaṃ rūpato nopalabhyate ||
Bhishma berkata: “Ketika seorang anak baru saja lahir, rupa yang tampak memiliki kuku dan jari-jari kemerahan seperti tembaga. Namun ketika ia mencapai masa kanak-kanak, rupa yang dahulu itu tidak lagi terlihat demikian.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the impermanence of bodily appearance: what seems defining at birth vanishes in later stages. The ethical implication is to avoid pride or attachment based on external form and to value enduring qualities aligned with dharma.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs on wisdom and right understanding. Here he uses a simple observation about a child’s changing appearance—from newborn to boyhood—to illustrate how the body’s form is not constant and should not be treated as the basis of lasting identity.