Shloka 20
Adhyāya 118: Saciva-parīkṣā
Testing and Appointment of Ministers/Servants
थ्वा त्वं द्वीपित्वमापन्नो द्वीपीव्याप्रत्वमागत:
tvaṃ tvam dvīpitvam āpanno dvīpīvyāpratvam āgataḥ
ພີສະມະກ່າວວ່າ: “ເຈົ້າໄດ້ເຂົ້າສູ່ສະພາບເປັນເສືອດາວ (leopard) ແລະຈາກເສືອດາວນັ້ນ ເຈົ້າກໍໄດ້ກ້າວຕໍ່ໄປ—ຜ່ານການເກີດເປັນສັດຕ່າງໆຕາມລຳດັບ. ດັ່ງນັ້ນ ເຈົ້າເຄີຍເປັນໝາ, ແລ້ວເປັນເສືອດາວ, ແລ້ວເຂົ້າສູ່ຄັນຂອງເສືອ; ຈາກເສືອເຈົ້າກາຍເປັນຊ້າງທີ່ເມົາມັນ; ຈາກຊ້າງເຈົ້າເຂົ້າສູ່ຄັນຂອງສິງ; ແລະເມື່ອເປັນສິງຜູ້ມີພະລັງ ເຈົ້າກໍໄດ້ຮັບຮ່າງຊະຣະພະອີກຄັ້ງ.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates saṃsāra governed by karma: moving into stronger or more dominant bodies is still bondage to birth, and ethical purification—not mere power or predatory success—is what leads beyond repeated embodiment.
Bhīṣma addresses a being (or interlocutor) by recounting its sequence of animal incarnations—dog to leopard to tiger to elephant to lion to śarabha—using the progression as a didactic example about the continuity of rebirth and the consequences of one’s tendencies and actions.