Shloka 12
Gautama–Yama Saṃvāda: Mātṛ-Pitṛ-Ṛṇa (Debt to Parents) and Śubha-Loka Attainment
न राजलक्षणत्यागो न पुरस्य तपोधना: । दुःखं करोति तत् तीव्रं यथा55शा विहता मम,“तपोधनो! नगर तथा राजचिदह्लोंका परित्याग मुझे वैसा तीव्र कष्ट नहीं दे रहा है, जैसा कि मेरी भग्न हुई आशा दे रही है
na rāja-lakṣaṇa-tyāgo na purasya tapo-dhanāḥ | duḥkhaṃ karoti tat tīvraṃ yathāśā vihatā mama ||
Bhishma berkata: “Wahai yang kaya dengan tapa, bukanlah penanggalan lambang-lambang kerajaan, dan bukan pula meninggalkan kota, yang menimpakan kepadaku dukacita setajam ini; melainkan harapanku yang kini hancur berkeping.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
External losses—status, symbols of rule, even one’s city—may be bearable, but attachment to outcomes (āśā) can create the sharpest suffering when it is frustrated. The ethical thrust is toward inner steadiness and reduced dependence on hope-as-attachment.
Bhishma, speaking in the Shanti Parva, addresses an ascetic-like interlocutor (“tapo-dhana”) and confesses that his deepest pain is not from giving up royal trappings or leaving the city, but from his own hope being broken—an inward, psychological defeat.