नारद–शुक संवादः
Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga
जन्ममृत्यू च राजेन्द्र प्राकृतं तदचिन्तयत् । व्यक्ताव्यक्तस्थ कर्मेदमिति नित्यं नराधिप
janmamṛtyū ca rājendra prākṛtaṃ tad acintayat | vyaktāvyaktastha karmedam iti nityaṃ narādhipa ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Wahai raja yang terbaik, janganlah merunsingkan kelahiran dan kematian, kerana keduanya termasuk dalam tertib alam. Ketahuilah bahawa perbuatan ini berada dalam jalinan antara yang nyata (manifest) dan yang tidak nyata (unmanifest); peganglah pengertian ini dengan teguh, wahai pemerintah manusia.”
भीष्म उवाच
Bhīṣma urges the king to refrain from excessive grief or rumination over birth and death, treating them as part of nature (prākṛta). Ethical steadiness comes from seeing one’s duty/action (karma) in the wider metaphysical frame of the manifest (vyakta) and unmanifest (avyakta), cultivating detachment while continuing rightful action.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs the grieving king (Yudhiṣṭhira) after the war. Here he consoles and philosophically reorients him: mortality is natural, and the king should maintain a constant understanding that action operates within the cosmic order spanning the seen and unseen.