Shloka 5
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
तयोरेकतरे मार्गे यदेनमभिसन्नयेत् । न सुखं प्राप्य संहृष्येन्नासुखं प्राप्प संज्वरेत्
tayor ekatare mārge yadenam abhisannayet | na sukhaṃ prāpya saṃhṛṣyen nāsukhaṃ prāpya saṃjvaret ||
ビーシュマは言った。「もし定めを司る者が人を二つの道のいずれか――快楽か苦痛か――へ導くとしても、幸福を得て有頂天になってはならず、苦難に落ちて心を焼くように嘆いてもならぬ。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Maintain equanimity: do not become intoxicated by happiness or crushed by suffering. Since outcomes may be allotted by the Ordainer, the wise response is steadiness, restraint, and inner balance rather than emotional extremes.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs on dharma and right conduct. Here he advises the listener that when life moves along either of the two inevitable tracks—pleasure or pain—one should remain composed, neither celebrating nor lamenting excessively.