Shloka 37
यावद्यावदभूच्छुद्धा देहं धारयितुं नृणाम् । तावत् तावदजीवंस्ते नासीद् यमकृतं भयम्,पहले मनुष्योंको जितने दिनोंतक शरीर धारण करनेकी इच्छा होती, उतने दिनोंतक वे जीवित रहते थे। उन्हें यमराजका कोई भय नहीं होता था
yāvad yāvad abhūc chuddhā dehaṃ dhārayituṃ nṛṇām | tāvat tāvad ajīvaṃs te nāsīd yamakṛtaṃ bhayam ||
മനുഷ്യർക്കു ദേഹം ധരിക്കാനുള്ള ശുദ്ധ ശേഷി എത്രകാലം നിലനിന്നുവോ, അത്രകാലം അവർ ജീവിച്ചു; അന്ന് യമജന്യമായ ഭയം ഇല്ലായിരുന്നു—മരണത്തിന്റെ ഭീതിയൊന്നും അവരെ മൂടിയിരുന്നില്ല.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Life and death are presented as governed by an inner moral-cosmic condition: when human nature was 'pure' and capable of sustaining the body, lifespan followed that capacity, and fear of death (personified as Yama) did not dominate. The verse contrasts an earlier harmonious order with later decline, where death becomes a source of anxiety.
Bhishma, instructing on dharma and the nature of worldly order, describes a former time when people lived for as long as they could and wished to sustain their bodies. Because death did not forcibly interrupt life then, Yama was not feared in the way he is in later ages.