Shloka 24

Devanagari script

जातमेवान्तको<न्ताय जरा चान्वेति देहिनम्‌ । अनुषक्ता द्वयेनैते भावा: स्थावरजड्रमा:,देहधारी जीवके जन्म लेते ही अन्त करनेके लिये मौत और बुढ़ापा उसके पीछे लग जाते हैं। ये समस्त चराचर प्राणी इन दोनोंसे बँधे हुए हैं

Transliteration

jātam evāntako 'ntāya jarā cānveti dehinam | anuṣaktā dvayenaitā bhāvāḥ sthāvarajaṅgamāḥ ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。生きとし生けるものが生まれ落ちたその瞬間から、死はすでに終着として定められ、老いは具身の自己に寄り添って追いかける。動かぬものも動くものも、あらゆる存在の相はこの二つに縛られている。

Word by Word

जातम्born (one/that which is born)

एवindeed, just

अन्तकःDeath (the ender)

अन्तायfor (its) end, for destruction

जराold age

चand

अन्वेतिfollows

देहिनम्the embodied being

अनुषक्ताःattached, bound

द्वयेनby the pair (by these two)

एतेthese

भावाःbeings, states, entities

स्थावर-जङ्गमाःthe immobile and the mobile (all creatures)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Antaka (Death)

Jara (Old age)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Embodied existence is inseparable from decay and death: old age follows the living, and death is implicit from birth. Recognizing this fosters vairagya (detachment) and a dharmic life oriented to what is enduring rather than transient.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhishthira, Bhishma continues a reflective discourse on the nature of life and suffering, emphasizing that all beings—moving and unmoving—are inevitably accompanied by aging and death.