Shloka 19
उपवासविधि-प्रश्नः
Inquiry into the Discipline of Fasting
आचार्यशास्ता या जाति: सा सत्या साजरामरा | भारत! पिता और माता केवल शरीरकी सृष्टि करते हैं, किंतु आचार्यके उपदेशसे जो ज्ञानरूप नवीन जीवन प्राप्त होता है, वह सत्य, अजर और अमर है ।।
ācāryaśāstā yā jātiḥ sā satyā sājarāmarā | bhārata! pitā ca mātā ca kevalaṁ śarīrasṛṣṭiṁ kurutaḥ, kintu ācāryopadeśena yo jñānarūpaḥ navīnaḥ jīvanaḥ prāpyate sa satyaḥ ajaraḥ amaraś ca || jyeṣṭhā mātusamā cāpi bhaginī bharatarṣabha ||
Bhīṣma disse: “Ó Bhārata, o nascimento que vem pela orientação do mestre (ācārya) é o nascimento verdadeiro—sem velhice e sem morte. Pai e mãe geram apenas o corpo; mas, pela instrução do preceptor, obtém-se uma vida nova na forma do conhecimento, e essa vida é real, além da decadência e além da morte. E a irmã mais velha também deve ser tida como igual à mãe, ó touro entre os Bhāratas.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that parents generate the physical body, but the teacher (ācārya) grants a higher ‘birth’ through instruction—awakening a life of knowledge that is called true, unaging, and deathless. He also reinforces family ethics by stating that an elder sister deserves the same reverence as one’s mother.
In the Anushasana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhishthira on dharma—especially duties of respect and proper conduct. Here he contrasts bodily birth with spiritual-intellectual rebirth through a guru’s teaching, and then adds a rule of reverence within the household: treat the elder sister as mother.