Shloka 3
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
अब्रवीन्मां पुरा वश्िद् ब्राह्मणस्त्यागमाश्रित: । क्लिश्यमान: कुदारेण कुचैलेन बुभुक्षया
abravīn māṃ purā kaścid brāhmaṇas tyāgam āśritaḥ | kliśyamānaḥ kudāreṇa kucailena bubhukṣayā ||
ビーシュマは言った。「昔、離欲の道に依る一人のブラーフマナが、私に語りかけたことがある。悪しき妻に悩まされ、ぼろ衣に苦しみ、飢えに責め立てられて、甚だしく困窮していた彼は、次のように私に告げた。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-inquiry: even a person inclined to renunciation may face acute worldly distress (hunger, poverty, domestic suffering). The ethical focus is on how one should respond—through restraint, discernment, and adherence to dharma rather than collapse into anger or wrongdoing.
Bhīṣma begins recounting an earlier encounter: a suffering brāhmaṇa who had taken up renunciation approaches him and speaks, introducing a didactic episode meant to illuminate conduct under hardship.