Shloka 11
Varāha-avatāra: Viṣṇu’s subterranean intervention and the cosmic nāda (Śānti-parva 202)
यथार्चिषो5ग्ने: पवनस्य वेगो मरीचयोड3र्कस्य नदीषु चाप: । गच्छन्ति चायान्ति च संचरन्त्य- स्तद्वच्छरीराणि शरीरिणां तु
bhīṣma uvāca | yathārcīṣo 'gneḥ pavanasyā vegā marīcayo 'rkasya nadīṣu cāpaḥ | gacchanti cāyānti ca sañcarantyas tadvac charīrāṇi śarīriṇāṃ tu ||
ビーシュマは言った。「火の焔、風の疾走、太陽の光線、川を流れる水—それらが常に動き、去来し、巡り続けるように、身を帯びた者たちの身体もまた、絶え間ない移りゆきの流れに捉えられている。要は、身体を無常にして動転するものと見て、変わらざるを得ぬものに執するのではなく、理解の堅固さを養うことである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
All embodied existence is in constant motion and change; therefore one should not cling to the body as stable or ultimate, but cultivate discernment and detachment aligned with dharma.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma uses natural analogies—fire, wind, sunlight, and river-water—to illustrate the ceaseless flux of bodily life and to ground ethical reflection on non-attachment.