Shloka 223
Śreyas-nirdeśa (Discerning the Superior Good): Nārada–Gālava Saṃvāda
असंत्याज्यं यदा मर्त्य: कि स्वस्थ इव तिष्ठसि | पिताजी! जब इस शरीरमें मृत्यु
asantyājyaṃ yadā martyaḥ kiṃ svastha iva tiṣṭhasi |
असन्त्याज्यं यदा मर्त्यः किं स्वस्थ इव तिष्ठसि। अस्मिन् शरीरे मृत्युर्जरा व्याधयश्च नानाहेतुकदुःखपरम्परा च नित्यं प्रवर्तते; न च तेषां मोक्षः केनचिदुपायेन शक्यते। एवं स्थिते कथं निश्चिन्त इव तिष्ठसि॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the inevitability of death, aging, and disease, urging alertness and ethical seriousness rather than complacency. The verse presses the listener to recognize unavoidable suffering as a prompt for right living, reflection, and detachment.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhishma addresses his interlocutor with a pointed question: given that the body is bound to death, decay, and illness, why is the person behaving as if secure and untroubled? It functions as a wake-up call within Bhishma’s broader counsel on dharma and the human condition.