Shloka 21
अध्याय १७८ — प्राणवायुगतिः तथा शारीराग्निव्यवस्था
Adhyāya 178 — The courses of prāṇa-vāyu and the regulation of the bodily fire
अहो नु मम बालिश्यं यो5हं क्रीडनकस्तव । कि नैवं जातु पुरुष: परेषां प्रेष्यतामियात्
aho nu mama bāliśyaṃ yo 'haṃ krīḍanakas tava | ki naivaṃ jātu puruṣaḥ pareṣāṃ preṣyatām iyāt ||
ਹਾਏ! ਮੇਰੀ ਕਿਹੋ ਜਿਹੀ ਮੂਰਖਤਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਮੈਂ ਤੇਰੇ ਹੱਥ ਦਾ ਖਿਡੌਣਾ ਬਣ ਗਿਆ ਹਾਂ। ਜੇ ਐਸਾ ਨਾ ਹੁੰਦਾ, ਤਾਂ ਕੋਈ ਸਿਆਣਾ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਕਦੇ ਦੂਜੇ ਦੀ ਗ਼ੁਲਾਮੀ ਕਬੂਲ ਕਰਦਾ?
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A discerning person should not surrender their agency and dignity into another’s control; accepting servitude born of weakness or delusion is portrayed as a moral and practical error.
Bhishma, speaking in the Shanti Parva, reflects with remorse on having allowed himself to be treated as another’s instrument—likening himself to a toy—and condemns the very idea that a wise man would willingly accept such subjugation.