Shloka 55
वृत्ति-सत्सङ्ग-दान-धर्म
Livelihood, Virtuous Association, and Ethics of Giving
अवीनां पित्तभेदश्न सर्वेषामिति न: श्रुतम् । शुकानामपि सर्वेषां हिक्किका प्रोच्यते ज्वर:
avīnāṃ pittabhedaś ca sarveṣām iti naḥ śrutam | śukānām api sarveṣāṃ hikkikā procyate jvaraḥ ||
பீஷ்மர் கூறினார்—எங்களுக்குக் கேள்விப்பட்டது: எல்லா ஆடுகளுக்கும் ‘பித்தபேத’ எனும் நோயே ஜ்வரம் என்று கருதப்படுகிறது. அதுபோல எல்லா கிளிகளுக்கும் விக்கல் (ஹிக்கிகா) தான் ஜ்வரம் என்று சொல்லப்படுகிறது.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma conveys a piece of received traditional knowledge: different species may have characteristic ailments that are conventionally classified under ‘fever’ (jvara). The verse illustrates how diagnostic categories can be applied by customary association rather than by a single uniform symptom-set.
Within Bhishma’s long instructional discourse in the Shanti Parva, he cites proverbial/medical observations about animals—sheep and parrots—to support a broader explanatory point about how conditions are named and understood in traditional learning.