Shloka 6
जनक–पराशर संवादः — वर्ण-गोत्र-धर्मविचारः
Janaka–Parāśara: Varṇa, Gotra, and Dharma Inquiry
प्रसारयित्वेहाड़्ननि कूर्म: संहरते यथा । तद्धद् भूतानि भूतानामल्पीयांसि स्थवीयसाम्
bhīṣma uvāca | prasārayitvehāṅgāni kūrmaḥ saṃharate yathā | tadvad bhūtāni bhūtānām alpīyāṃsi sthavīyasām |
Bhīṣma berkata: “Sebagaimana kura-kura menghulurkan anggota lalu menariknya kembali, demikian juga tubuh semua makhluk timbul daripada lima mahābhūta—bermula dengan ruang (ākāśa)—dan, pada waktunya, luluh kembali ke dalam unsur-unsur itu. Maka yang halus dihimpunkan ke dalam yang lebih besar, dan kehidupan berjasad terlihat sebagai kitaran penzahiran dan penyerapan semula.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Embodied forms are temporary configurations of the five great elements; they arise from those elements and ultimately dissolve back into them. The tortoise metaphor illustrates expansion into manifestation and withdrawal into reabsorption, encouraging detachment from the body as a final reality.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs on philosophical and ethical understanding after the war. Here he uses a vivid natural image—the tortoise extending and withdrawing its limbs—to explain how bodies and material forms emerge from the elemental basis of nature and return to it.