Shloka 42
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
इदं तु लब्ध्वा संस्थानमात्मानं बहु मन्यसे । सर्वभूतभवं देवं ब्रह्माणमिव शाश्वतम्
idaṁ tu labdhvā saṁsthānam ātmānaṁ bahu manyase | sarvabhūtabhavaṁ devaṁ brahmāṇam iva śāśvatam ||
हे पद व देह मिळवून तू स्वतःला फार मोठे मानतोस—जणू सर्वभूतांचा जनक सनातन देव ब्रह्माच; पण हे इंद्रपद कधीही अचल वा अनंतकाळ टिकणारे सिद्ध झालेले नाही—अनेकांनी ते धारण केले आणि निघून गेले. केवळ मोहग्रस्त बुद्धीने तू ते आपले मानतोस.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power and status are impermanent; pride based on office or bodily circumstance is delusion. One should cultivate humility and discernment, remembering that even the highest positions pass from one holder to another.
Bhishma admonishes a proud ruler (implicitly one who identifies with a high office such as Indra-like lordship), warning that such supremacy is not eternal. He contrasts the hearer’s self-exaltation with Brahmā’s truly cosmic role, to expose the hearer’s mistaken self-importance.