Shloka 154
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
तदल्पसुखमत्यर्थ बहुदुःखमसारवत् । तृणाग्निज्वलनप्रख्यं फेनबुद्बुदसंनिभम्
tad alpasukham atyarthaṁ bahuduḥkham asāravat | tṛṇāgnijvalanaprakhyaṁ phenabudbudasaṁnibham ||
Bhīṣma berkata: Kenikmatan itu hanya memberi sedikit suka, namun mendatangkan duka yang berlebihan; hampa dan tak bersari. Ia laksana nyala api yang sekejap menyambar rumput kering, dan laksana buih serta gelembung—tampak sesaat lalu lenyap.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches dispassion: sense-based or worldly enjoyments are fleeting and insubstantial, giving only small pleasure but leading to great suffering; therefore one should not cling to them and should cultivate restraint and higher aims (dharma and liberation).
In Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira on right conduct and inner discipline, using vivid similes (grass-fire, foam, bubble) to show the transience and unreliability of worldly gratification.