Shloka 14
शुकस्य योगसिद्धिः (Śuka’s Yogic Attainment and Ascent)
कुतो5हमागत: को5स्मि क्व गमिष्यामि कस्य वा । कस्मिन् स्थित: क्व भविता कस्मात्किमनुशोचसि
kuto 'ham āgataḥ ko 'smi kva gamiṣyāmi kasya vā | kasmin sthitaḥ kva bhavitā kasmāt kim anuśocasi ||
ビーシュマは言った。「私はどこから来たのか。私は誰なのか。どこへ行くのか。私は真に誰に属するのか。いかなる境遇に立ち、いかなる境地へと再び生まれるのか。これらがかくも不確かで移ろいやすいのなら、いったい何のために—そして何をこそ—汝は嘆き悲しむのか。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma redirects the mind from sorrow to discernment: when identity, ownership, destination, and future embodiment are uncertain and transient, grief rooted in possessiveness and fixed notions of “mine” and “me” loses its basis. The verse urges self-inquiry and detachment as a foundation for dharmic clarity.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira after the war, addressing his remorse and sorrow. Here he challenges the very assumptions behind lamentation by posing a chain of existential questions about origin, identity, destination, belonging, and rebirth.