Shloka 16
Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse
बलहीनाश्न कौन्तेय यथा जाल॑ गता झषा: । वधं गच्छन्ति राजेन्द्र योगास्तद्वत् सुदुर्बला:
balahīnāśnau kaunteya yathā jāla-gatā jhaṣāḥ | vadhaṁ gacchanti rājendra yogās tadvat sudurbalāḥ ||
ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಓ ಕೌಂತೇಯ, ರಾಜೇಂದ್ರನೇ! ದುರ್ಬಲ ಮೀನುಗಳು ಬಲೆಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿ ವಧೆಗೆ ಹೋಗುವಂತೆ, ಯೋಗಬಲವಿಲ್ಲದ ಯೋಗಸಾಧನೆಗಳು ಅತ್ಯಂತ ದುರ್ಬಲವಾಗಿ ಮನುಷ್ಯನನ್ನು ವಿನಾಶದ ಕಡೆಗೆ ಕೊಂಡೊಯ್ಯುತ್ತವೆ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual practice must be supported by real inner strength—steadiness, self-control, and resolve. If one’s ‘yoga’ is weak (lacking discipline and power), it cannot protect the practitioner; instead, one becomes vulnerable to downfall, like fish trapped in a net.
In the Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and right conduct. Here he uses a vivid analogy—weak fish caught in a net—to warn that practices or vows undertaken without sufficient inner power and firmness lead to harm rather than liberation.