Shloka 122

Devanagari script

इसी प्रकार कुमारावस्थासे जवानीको और जवानीसे बुढ़ापेको वह प्राप्त होता है। इस क्रमसे उत्तरोत्तर अवस्थामें पहुँचनेपर पूर्व पूर्व अवस्थाका रूप नहीं देखनेमें आता है ।। कलानां पृथगर्थानां प्रतिभेद: क्षणे क्षणे । वर्तते सर्वभूतेषु सौक्ष्म्यात्‌ तु न विभाव्यते,सभी प्राणियोंमें विभिन्न प्रयोजनकी सिद्धिके लिये जो पूर्वोक्त कलाएँ हैं, उनके स्वरूपमें प्रतिक्षण भेद या परिवर्तन हो रहा है; परंतु वह इतना सूक्ष्म है कि जान नहीं पड़ता

Transliteration

kalānāṁ pṛthagarthānāṁ pratibhedaḥ kṣaṇe kṣaṇe | vartate sarvabhūteṣu saukṣmyāt tu na vibhāvyate ||

Translation

एवमेव कुमारभावात् यौवनं, यौवनाच्च जरा प्राप्यते; एवं क्रमशः परां परामवस्थां प्राप्य पूर्वपूर्वावस्थारूपं नोपलभ्यते। कलानां पृथगर्थानां प्रतिभेदः क्षणे क्षणे वर्तते सर्वभूतेषु; सौक्ष्म्यात्तु न विभाव्यते॥

Word by Word

कलानाम्of the arts/parts (kalās)

पृथक्separately, distinct

अर्थानाम्of purposes/meanings/objects

प्रतिभेदःdifference, variation

क्षणेin a moment

क्षणेin (each) moment

वर्ततेexists, takes place, occurs

सर्वभूतेषुin all beings

सौक्ष्म्यात्due to subtlety, because of minuteness

तुbut, however

नnot

विभाव्यतेis perceived/recognized, becomes manifest

Speaker

भीष्य 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?

All beings undergo continuous, moment-by-moment transformation in their faculties and conditions; the change is real but so subtle that it escapes ordinary perception. Therefore one should not cling to a fixed identity or assume permanence in bodily or mental states.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva discourse, Bhīṣma instructs the listener in a reflective, philosophical mode, using the familiar progression from childhood to youth to old age to illustrate how change is constant even when it is not immediately visible.