Shloka 36
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
धैर्येण युक्तस्थ सत: शरीरं न विशीर्यते । भीष्मजीने कहा--राजा युधिष्ठिर! जिसके स्त्री-पुत्र मर गये हों
dhairyeṇa yukta-sthaḥ sataḥ śarīraṁ na viśīryate | indra prākṛtayā buddhyā pralayaṁ nāvabuddhyase | kecit tvāṁ bahu manyante śraiṣṭhyaṁ prāptaṁ svakarmaṇā |
ビーシュマは言った。「忍耐を具え、揺るがずに立つ徳ある者は、憂いによって身を損なうことがない。おおインドラよ、世俗の凡なる知によって、おまえは時とともに必ず訪れる滅びを悟れぬ。しかも世には、おまえが自らの業と武勇によって至高の位を得たのだと信じ、深くおまえを崇める者もいる。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Steadfast patience (dhairya) protects a righteous person from being consumed by anxiety; worldly, unrefined understanding can blind even the powerful to inevitable decline, so one should cultivate clarity and humility rather than pride.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs on dharma and right conduct; here he praises fortitude as a safeguard against grief and then addresses Indra, critiquing his ordinary outlook for not grasping inevitable destruction, while noting that some people still overestimate Indra’s greatness as self-made.