Shloka 17
Vipula’s Yogic Protection of the Guru’s Household (विपुलस्य योगरक्षा / Vipulasya Yogarakṣā)
नासां कश्षिदगम्यो5स्ति नासां वयसि निश्चय: । विरूप॑ रूपवन्तं वा पुमानित्येव भुज्जते
nāsāṃ kaścid agamyo 'sti nāsāṃ vayasi niścayaḥ | virūpaṃ rūpavantaṃ vā pumān ity eva bhujyate ||
ಅವರಿಗೆ ಅಪ್ರಾಪ್ಯನಾದ ಪುರುಷ ಯಾರೂ ಇಲ್ಲ; ಯಾವ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸ್ಥಿರ ನಿಶ್ಚಯವಿಲ್ಲ. ಸುಂದರನಾಗಲಿ ವಿಕೃತನಾಗಲಿ—‘ಪುರುಷ’ ಎಂದಷ್ಟೇ ತಿಳಿದು ಅವರು ಭೋಗಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents Bhishma’s moral critique of unrestrained desire: when discernment and steadfastness are absent, ethical boundaries (who is ‘approachable’ or not, and what is appropriate at different life-stages) collapse, reducing persons to objects of pleasure.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhishthira on dharma and proper conduct. Here he characterizes a certain type of woman (as framed by the text) as lacking restraint and discrimination, describing behavior driven by mere sensual appetite rather than ethical judgment.