Shloka 10
Adhyāya 179 — Bharadvāja’s Reductionist Inquiry into Jīva and Pañcabhūta Dissolution
गृहारम्भो हि दुःखाय न सुखाय कदाचन । सर्प: परकृतं वेश्म प्रविश्य सुखमेधते
gṛhārambho hi duḥkhāya na sukhāya kadācana | sarpaḥ parakṛtaṃ veśma praviśya sukham edhate ||
भीष्म उवाच—गृहारम्भो हि दुःखाय न सुखाय कदाचन। सर्पः परकृतं वेश्म प्रविश्य सुखमेधते॥ तस्माद् अनिकेतत्वं परिग्रहवर्जनं च प्रशस्यते; सर्पोऽत्र गुरुरिव दृष्टान्तः॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that attachment to building and owning a home brings ongoing trouble and anxiety, whereas freedom from possessiveness—living lightly without ‘mine-ness’—supports peace. The snake exemplifies using what is available without the burden of acquisition.
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he uses a brief analogy: a snake comfortably occupies a dwelling made by others. The point is to counsel a life of minimal entanglement and to discourage obsession with house-building and property.