Shloka 39

Devanagari script

रममाण: श्रिया वक्षिन्नान्यच्छेयो5भिमन्यते । तथा तस्येहमानस्य समारम्भो विनश्यति,कोई-कोई मनुष्य तो धन-सम्पत्तिमें इस तरह रम जाता है कि उसे उससे बढ़कर सुखका साधन और कुछ जान ही नहीं पड़ता है। अतः वह धनोपार्जनकी ही चेष्टामें लगा रहता है। परंतु दैववश उस मनुष्यका वह सारा उद्योग सहसा नष्ट हो जाता है

Transliteration

ramamāṇaḥ śriyā vakṣi nānyac chreyo 'bhimanyate | tathā tasyehamānasya samārambho vinaśyati ||

Translation

रममाणः श्रिया वक्ष्यन् नान्यच्छ्रेयोऽभिमन्यते । तथा तस्येहमानस्य समारम्भो विनश्यति ॥

Word by Word

रममाणःenjoying, delighting

श्रियाwith prosperity/wealth

वक्षिsay (you), tell

नnot

अन्यत्anything else

श्रेयःbetter good, higher good

अभिमन्यतेthinks, considers

तथाthus, in that way

तस्यof him

इहhere, in this world

मानस्यof the proud/esteeming one

समारम्भःundertaking, enterprise

विनश्यतिperishes, is destroyed

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Attachment to wealth can blind a person to higher welfare (śreyaḥ). Even intense effort aimed only at acquisition is unstable, because fortune can overturn worldly enterprises; therefore one should not treat wealth as the supreme good.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction in the Śānti Parva, he warns about the mindset of those who revel in prosperity and pursue only accumulation, noting that their projects may be abruptly destroyed by destiny, underscoring the need for a dharmic perspective beyond mere gain.