Shloka 9
प्रजाविसर्ग-तत्त्वनिर्णयः | Cosmogony of Elemental Emergence
Bharadvāja–Bhṛgu Dialogue
पुत्र बवाच मृत्युनाभ्याहतो लोको जरया परिवारित: । अहोरात्रा: पतन्त्येते ननु कस्मान्न बुध्यसे
putra uvāca mṛtyunābhyāhato loko jarayā parivāritaḥ | ahorātrāḥ patanty ete nanu kasmān na budhyase ||
पुत्र उवाच—मृत्युनाभ्याहतो लोको जरया परिवारितः। अहोरात्राः पतन्त्येते, ननु कस्मान्न बुध्यसे?
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Awaken to impermanence: death and old age are inevitable, and time (days and nights) continuously diminishes life; therefore one should not live in heedlessness but turn toward right conduct and inner clarity.
In a didactic exchange within Śānti Parva, a son admonishes his father, pointing to the visible facts of mortality—death, aging, and the relentless passage of time—to shake him out of complacency and prompt serious reflection on life’s purpose.