Shloka 28
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
सुखदु:खे हि पुरुष: पर्यायेणाधिगच्छति । पर्यायेणासि शक्रव्वं प्राप्त: शक्र न कर्मणा
sukhaduḥkhe hi puruṣaḥ paryāyeṇādhigacchati | paryāyeṇāsi śakratvaṁ prāptaḥ śakra na karmaṇā ||
ビーシュマは言った。「人は時の輪が巡るままに、幸福と苦悩とを交互に受け取る。おおシャクラ（インドラ）よ、汝がインドラの位に至ったのも、ただ己の力のみゆえではなく、定められた時の推移によるのだ。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Fortune alternates: happiness and sorrow come in cycles. Even exalted power and rank are not solely the product of individual effort; they also arise through the larger order of time and succession. The ethical implication is humility, patience in adversity, and restraint in prosperity.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma and right understanding after the war. Here he addresses Śakra (Indra) as an example, emphasizing that status and experience shift by turns, underscoring the role of time’s sequence in worldly rise and fall.