Shloka 28
अध्याय १७८ — प्राणवायुगतिः तथा शारीराग्निव्यवस्था
Adhyāya 178 — The courses of prāṇa-vāyu and the regulation of the bodily fire
अनुतर्षुल एकार्थ: स्वादु गाड़मिवोदकम् | मद्विलापनमेतत्तु प्रतिबुद्धो5स्मि संत्यज
anutarṣur ekārthaḥ svādu gāḍham ivodakam | madvilāpanam etat tu pratibuddho 'smi saṃtyaja, kāma! svādiṣṭa-gaḍa-jalake samānaṃ idaṃ dhanaṃ tṛṣṇāyā hi vṛddhi-karaṇam | ahaṃ suṣṭhu jñāta-vān asmi yat eṣā tṛṣṇā-vṛddhiḥ mama vināśa-kāraṇam; ataḥ tvaṃ mama piṇḍaṃ choda de ||
ビーシュマは言った。「欲望よ、この財は甘く深い水のごとく、ただ渇きを増すのみ。もたらすものは一つ、渇愛を燃え立たせることだ。私は悟った――この渇きの増大こそ我が破滅の因である。ゆえに、欲望よ、我を離れよ。わが身の芯に食らいつく手を放て。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wealth and sense-pleasures can be like sweet water that paradoxically intensifies thirst: indulgence often increases craving rather than satisfying it. Ethical freedom comes from awakening (pratibodha) to this mechanism and deliberately abandoning the grip of kāma (desire), which otherwise becomes a cause of personal ruin.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner discipline, Bhishma speaks in a reflective, admonitory tone, personifying Desire as an adversary. He declares that he has ‘awakened’ to how wealth fuels craving and asks Kāma to leave him—signaling a turn toward renunciation and self-control as the foundation for peace and right living.