Shloka 44
ये केचन स्वध्ययना: प्राप्ता यजनयाजनम् | कथं ते चानुशोचेयुर्थ्यायेयुवाप्पशो भनम् । इच्छन्तस्ते विहाराय सुखं महदवाप्लुयु:
ye kecana svādhyayanāḥ prāptā yajanayājanam | kathaṃ te cānuśoceyur dhyāyeyur vāpaśobhanam | icchantas te vihārāya sukhaṃ mahad avāpnuyuḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「ヴェーダの学びに専心し、自ら祭祀を行い、また他者のためにも祭祀を執り行うバラモンたちが、どうして不安や嘆きに沈むであろうか。まして自害のような卑しき思いを抱く理由がどこにあろう。望むなら、祭祀と聖なる務めという健やかな『遊び』のうちに生きて、大いなる幸福を得ることができる。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that disciplined sacred life—Vedic study (svādhyāya) and sacrificial duty (yajana/yājana)—stabilizes the mind and removes grounds for despair; one who is properly engaged in dharma should not sink into anxiety or entertain ignoble thoughts like self-harm, but can attain great happiness through righteous practice.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira by praising the sustaining power of Brahminical disciplines. He argues that those absorbed in svādhyāya and yajña have a purposeful, uplifting way of life, making lamentation and self-destructive thinking inappropriate and unnecessary.