Shloka 22
Bhīṣma on the Śara-Śayyā: Yudhiṣṭhira and Kṛṣṇa Approach the Eldest for Śānti
मृत्युमावार्य तपसा शरसंस्तरशायिन: । निसर्गप्रभवं किंचिन्न च तातानुशुश्रुम
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
mṛtyum āvārya tapasā śarasaṃstaraśāyinaḥ |
nisargaprabhavaṃ kiñcin na ca tāta anuśuśruma ||
Vaiśampāyana disse: “Ó querido, nunca ouvimos falar de alguém que, deitado sobre um leito de flechas, tenha contido a morte—a morte que surge naturalmente para o corpo—pelo poder da austeridade. Tal feito é conhecido apenas no caso de Bhīṣma, filho de Śāntanu.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of natural death for embodied beings, while underscoring that only exceptional spiritual power and destiny—exemplified by Bhīṣma—can delay it. It frames Bhīṣma’s endurance as unique and ethically significant, tied to his extraordinary life of dharma and vows.
Vaiśampāyana remarks that tradition knows of no one besides Bhīṣma—lying on the arrow-bed—who restrained the body’s natural death through austerity. The statement elevates Bhīṣma’s condition as unparalleled in the epic’s remembered history.