Shloka 15
Gautama–Yama Saṃvāda: Mātṛ-Pitṛ-Ṛṇa (Debt to Parents) and Śubha-Loka Attainment
भवन्त: सुमहाभागास्तस्मात् पृच्छामि संशयम् । आशावान् पुरुषो यः स्यादन्तरिक्षमथापि वा
bhavantaḥ sumahābhāgās tasmāt pṛcchāmi saṁśayam | āśāvān puruṣo yaḥ syād antarīkṣam athāpi vā |
ビーシュマは言った。「あなたがたはまことに福徳高く成就した聖者である。ゆえに私は心の疑いを問う。片や希望に支えられて立つ人があり、片や無辺の虚空があるとき、世の“偉大さ”の尺度では、どちらがより大いなるものと見えるのか。私はその真実を聞きたい。ここに来た以上、何がなお得難いというのか。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral-philosophical inquiry: true ‘greatness’ is not only cosmic vastness (the sky) but may lie in the human capacity for hope and aspiration, which drives effort, endurance, and ethical striving.
Bhīṣma respectfully addresses revered interlocutors (tapasvins/wise ones) and asks them to settle a doubt by comparing the greatness of a hopeful person with the vast sky, requesting a principled, truthful explanation.