Shloka 16
Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: On the Superiority of Giving
Maitreya–Vyāsa Exemplum
भीष्मजी कहते हैं--राजन्! कीड़ेके ऐसा कहनेपर व्यासजीने उससे पूछा--“कीट! तुम्हे सुख कहाँ है?” मेरी समझमें तो तुम्हारा मर जाना ही तुम्हारे लिये सुखकी बात है; क्योंकि तुम तिर्यक् योनि--अधम कीट-योनिमें पड़े हो ।। शब्दं स्पर्श रसं गन्ध॑ भोगांश्वोच्चावचान् बहून् | नाभिजानासि कीट त्वं श्रेयो मरणमेव ते,“कीट! तुम्हें शब्द, स्पर्श, रस, गन्ध तथा बहुत-से छोटे-बड़े भोगोंका अनुभव नहीं होता है। अतः तुम्हारा तो मर जाना ही अच्छा है!
Bhīṣma uvāca—rājan, kīṭenaivaṃ ukte Vyāsena tam apṛcchat—“kīṭa, te sukhaṃ kutra?” mama mate tu tava maraṇam eva te śreyaḥ; yasmāt tvaṃ tiryag-yoniṃ—adhamāṃ kīṭa-yoniṃ—prāptaḥ. śabdaṃ sparśaṃ rasaṃ gandhaṃ bhogāṃś coccāvacān bahūn | nābhijānāsi kīṭa tvaṃ śreyo maraṇam eva te ||
“ఓ కీటకమా! శబ్దం, స్పర్శ, రుచి, గంధం మరియు ఎన్నో చిన్నా-పెద్ద భోగాలను నీవు నిజంగా అనుభవించలేవు. అందుచేత నీకు మరణమే శ్రేయస్కరం.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts the ideal of ‘śreyas’ (true good) with mere existence in a degraded condition. It suggests that when a life-form is trapped in a low, limited embodiment with little access to conscious experience and higher aims, mere survival is not automatically the highest good; rather, liberation from that condition (here expressed starkly as death) is presented as preferable. Ethically, it pushes the listener to reflect on what counts as genuine welfare beyond sensory pleasure.
Bhishma recounts a dialogue: a worm speaks, and Vyasa responds by questioning where the worm’s happiness could be, given its low birth. Vyasa then argues that the worm cannot truly enjoy the sensory objects—sound, touch, taste, smell, and varied pleasures—so he concludes that death would be better for it than continuing in such a constrained state.