Shloka 19
Adhyāya 180: Jīva, Śarīra, and the Fire Analogy (भृगु–भरद्वाज संवादः)
सुमहान्तमपि ग्रासं ग्रसे लब्धं यदृच्छया । शये पुनरभुञ्जानो दिवसानि बहून्यपि
sumahāntam api grāsaṁ grase labdhaṁ yadṛcchayā | śaye punar abhuñjāno divasāni bahūny api ||
ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—“ದೈವಯೋಗದಿಂದ ಅಕಸ್ಮಾತ್ತಾಗಿ ಬಹಳ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಆಹಾರಭಾಗ ದೊರೆತರೆ ಅದನ್ನು ಭುಜಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಒಂದೇ ಕವಳ ಸಿಕ್ಕರೂ ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ತೃಪ್ತನಾಗಿರುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಏನೂ ಸಿಗದಿದ್ದರೆ ಅನೇಕ ದಿನಗಳವರೆಗೆ ಊಟವಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಮಲಗಿಯೇ ಇರುತ್ತೇನೆ.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
To practice santoṣa (contentment) and non-attachment: accept food (and, by extension, life’s gains) as it comes by chance—without greed in abundance and without agitation in scarcity—maintaining inner steadiness and self-control.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma and right conduct. Here he describes his own disciplined attitude toward sustenance: he eats when food is obtained, is satisfied with little, and remains untroubled even when fasting for many days.