Shloka 20
Kīṭopākhyāna: Prajā-pālana as Kṣatra-vrata and the Attainment of Brāhmaṇya
गर्भमें आये हुए प्राणी मल-मूत्र और पसीनोंके बीचमें रहकर खारे, खट्टे और कड़वे आदि रसोंसे, जिनका स्पर्श अत्यन्त कठोर और दुःखदायी होता है, पकते रहते हैं, जिससे उन्हें बड़ा भारी कष्ट होता है ।।
Bhīṣma uvāca: garbhe āgatāḥ prāṇinaḥ mala-mūtra-sveda-madhye tiṣṭhantaḥ kṣāra-amla-tikta-ādi-rasaiḥ, yeṣāṃ sparśaḥ atyanta-kaṭhoraḥ duḥkhadāyī ca, pacyante; tena teṣāṃ mahān kleśaḥ bhavati. Jātāś ca api avaśāḥ tatra chidyamānāḥ punaḥ punaḥ, pacyamānāś ca dṛśyante vivaśā māṃsa-gṛddhinaḥ, māṃsa-lolupāḥ jīvāḥ.
Bhishma berkata: Makhluk yang memasuki rahim tinggal di tengah kekotoran—najis, air kencing, dan peluh—dan seolah-olah ‘dimasak’ oleh sentuhan rasa masin, masam, pahit, dan lain-lain yang amat keras serta menyakitkan; maka mereka menanggung derita yang berat. Dan bahkan selepas lahir pun mereka tetap tidak berdaya: berulang kali ditebas senjata dan ‘dimasak’ oleh pelbagai sengsara—ketidakberdayaan makhluk yang tamak akan daging itu nyata terlihat.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Embodied life is marked by unavoidable suffering from conception onward, and craving—especially the appetite that sustains violence—keeps beings helplessly bound to repeated harm. The ethical implication is to cultivate restraint, compassion, and detachment rather than living by injury and desire.
Bhishma is instructing (in Anushasana Parva) by vividly describing the pain of fetal existence and the continued vulnerability after birth, where beings are repeatedly harmed—symbolized by being cut by weapons and ‘cooked’ by afflictions—highlighting the observable bondage of creatures driven by craving.