Shloka 166
Janamejaya’s Appeal for Pacification and Śaunaka’s Counsel on Humility (जनमेजय-शौनक संवादः)
संचयो नास्ति चास्माकं मुनीनामिव भोजने । 'भाई! अब मुझे भूख सता रही है; इसलिये तुम्हारा दिया हुआ कुछ भोजन करना चाहता हूँ।” उसकी बात सुनकर कबूतर बोला--“भैया! मेरे पास सम्पत्ति तो नहीं है
sañcayo nāsti cāsmākaṃ munīnām iva bhojane |
Bhishma berkata: “Kami tidak mempunyai bekalan makanan yang disimpan, sebagaimana para resi. Kami hanyalah burung yang mendiami rimba, hidup dengan apa yang kami kutip setiap hari; maka kami tidak mampu menyimpan makanan sebagai simpanan.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches non-hoarding and contentment: one should live simply, relying on honest daily means rather than accumulating reserves, and speak truthfully about one’s capacity to help.
A speaker (in the bird-story context) explains that, unlike sages who may have arranged provisions, forest birds survive on what they gather each day and therefore have no stored food to offer, setting up an ethical situation about hospitality under scarcity.