Shloka 26
Adhyāya 180: Jīva, Śarīra, and the Fire Analogy (भृगु–भरद्वाज संवादः)
अचलितमतिरच्युत: स्वधर्मात् परिमितसंसरण: परावरज्ञ: । विगतभयकषायलो भमोहो व्रतमिदमाजगरं शुचिश्चरामि
acalita-matir acyutaḥ sva-dharmāt parimita-saṁsaraṇaḥ parāvara-jñaḥ | vigata-bhaya-kaṣāya-lobha-mohaḥ vratam idam ājagaraṁ śuciś carāmi ||
ビーシュマは言った。「我が理解は揺るがず、我は自らのダルマより逸れていない。世における往来と交わりは、すでに節度を得て抑制された。高きものと低きものとを見分ける。恐れ、貪と瞋の穢れ、貪欲と迷妄は我が心より去った。清浄に住して、我はこの『蟒蛇のごとき』誓戒を修する——わずかな営みで生き、来るものを耐え、内において泰然としている。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches steadfastness in one’s own dharma combined with inner purification: restraining worldly activity, cultivating discernment of higher and lower aims, and removing fear, passion, greed, and delusion. The ‘ājagara-vrata’ symbolizes patient, minimal-striving endurance—remaining composed and pure while accepting what comes without restless pursuit.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and conduct, Bhishma speaks in the first person, describing the qualities of an ideal disciplined life. He presents himself (or the model renunciant) as practicing the ‘python-like vow,’ emphasizing restraint, clarity of values, and freedom from inner afflictions.