Shloka 21

Adhyāya 164: Gautama as Guest; Kaśyapa’s Satkāra and the Fourfold Arthagati; Journey to Virūpākṣa

Devanagari script

अज्ञानप्रभवो लोभो भूतानां दृश्यते सदा । अस्थिरत्वं च भोगानां दृष्टवा ज्ञात्वा निवर्तते,प्राणियोंका भोगोंके प्रति जो लोभ देखा जाता है, वह अज्ञानके ही कारण है। भोगोंकी क्षणभड्भुरताको देखने और जाननेसे उसकी निवृत्ति हो जाती है

Transliteration

ajñānaprabhavo lobho bhūtānāṃ dṛśyate sadā | asthiratvaṃ ca bhogānāṃ dṛṣṭvā jñātvā nivartate ||

Translation

భీష్ముడు పలికెను—ప్రాణుల్లో ఎల్లప్పుడూ కనిపించే లోభం అజ్ఞానమునుంచే పుడుతుంది. కానీ భోగాల అస్థిరతను, క్షణభంగురతను చూసి తెలుసుకున్నప్పుడు ఆ లోభం నివృత్తి అవుతుంది.

Word by Word

अज्ञान-प्रभवःarising from ignorance

लोभःgreed

भूतानाम्of beings

दृश्यतेis seen/observed

सदाalways

अस्थिरत्वम्instability/impermanence

चand

भोगानाम्of enjoyments/pleasures

दृष्ट्वाhaving seen

ज्ञात्वाhaving known/understood

निवर्ततेdesists/turns back (from it)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

bhūtāni (living beings)

bhogāḥ (sense-enjoyments)

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?

Greed arises from ignorance. When a person gains discernment by seeing and understanding that pleasures are unstable and short-lived, the mind naturally withdraws and greed diminishes.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīṣma continues his ethical teaching, diagnosing the root of human craving (ignorance) and prescribing insight into the impermanence of enjoyments as the remedy.