Shloka 60
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
तमः श्वभ्रनिभं दृष्टवा वर्षबुद्बुदसंनिभम् । नाशप्रायं सुखाद्धीनं नाशोत्तरमिहावशम्
tamaḥ śvabhranibhaṁ dṛṣṭvā varṣabudbudasaṁnibham | nāśaprāyaṁ sukhāddhīnaṁ nāśottaram ihāvaśam, rājan bharatanandana |
ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਹੇ ਰਾਜਨ, ਭਰਤ-ਨੰਦਨ! ਉਹ ਇਸ ਲੋਕ ਨੂੰ ਹਨੇਰੇ ਨਾਲ ਭਰੇ ਡੂੰਘੇ ਖੱਡ ਵਾਂਗ ਭਿਆਨਕ, ਵਰਖਾ-ਰੁੱਤ ਦੇ ਬੁਲਬੁਲੇ ਵਾਂਗ ਛਿਨਭੰਗੁਰ, ਨਾਸ ਦੇ ਨੇੜੇ, ਸੁਖ-ਰਹਿਤ ਅਤੇ ਵਿਨਾਸ਼ ਵੱਲ ਬੇਬਸ ਧੱਕਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਦੇਖਦੇ ਹਨ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches dispassion through clear seeing: worldly life is dark, unstable, and ends in destruction; therefore the wise cultivate knowledge and discernment, restrain themselves through austerity, and cut attachment—not only to coarse rajasic-tamasic cravings but also to subtle, pleasant sattvic enjoyments that still bind the self to bodily experience.
In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Bhishma instructs King Yudhishthira on liberation-oriented ethics. Here he uses vivid metaphors (pit of darkness, foam, painted image, rain-bubbles, elephant in mire) to describe saṁsāra’s fragility and bondage, urging the king to value discriminative wisdom and disciplined renunciation over attachment to family and sensory life.