Shloka 38
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
अन्योन्यभक्षणं दृष्टवा भूतानामपि चाशुभम् | बाल्ये मोहं च विज्ञाय क्षयं देहस्य चाशुभम्
anyonya-bhakṣaṇaṁ dṛṣṭvā bhūtānām api cāśubham | bālye mohaṁ ca vijñāya kṣayaṁ dehasya cāśubham ||
ビーシュマは言った。「生きとし生けるものさえ、互いに食らい合うという不吉な行いに耽るのを見て、それがいかに痛ましいかを省みよ。さらに知れ。幼き時、心は迷妄に覆われ、老いに至れば、身は不吉なる衰滅と破壊に遭うのである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the inherent suffering and moral ugliness of samsaric life: beings harm and consume one another; the mind is deluded in youth; and the body inevitably decays in old age. The point is to cultivate clear discernment (viveka) and dispassion toward transient pleasures, turning the intellect toward liberation.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and the path beyond sorrow. Here he uses stark observations about nature and human life—predation, childhood delusion, and bodily decline—to press the listener toward sober reflection and renunciatory wisdom.