Shloka 83
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
लाभालाभौ सुखं दु:खं कामक्रोधौ भवाभवौ
lābhālābhau sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ kāmakrodhau bhavābhavau
ビーシュマは言う。「得と失、楽と苦、欲と怒り、有と無——これらの対をなす状態は世の生において起こる。来ては去る相反するものとして見極め、ゆえにダルマにおける己の不動の心を揺るがせてはならぬ。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse groups life’s opposites—gain/loss, pleasure/pain, desire/anger, becoming/non-becoming—to highlight their fluctuating nature. The ethical lesson is to cultivate steadiness and self-control, not allowing these changing conditions to derail one’s commitment to dharma.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous living and inner discipline after the war. Here he succinctly lists paired worldly states and impulses as part of his broader counsel on detachment and mental balance.