Shloka 11

प्रजाविसर्ग-तत्त्वनिर्णयः | Cosmogony of Elemental Emergence

Bharadvāja–Bhṛgu Dialogue

Devanagari script

रात्र्यां रात्र्यां व्यतीतायामायुरल्पतरं यदा । गाधोदके मत्स्य इव सुखं विन्देत कस्तदा

Transliteration

rātryāṃ rātryāṃ vyatītāyām āyur alpataraṃ yadā | gāḍhodake matsya iva sukhaṃ vindeta kas tadā ||

Translation

ప్రతి రాత్రి గడిచేకొద్దీ ఆయువు మరింత తగ్గిపోతుంది. ఇలా జీవితం నిరంతరం క్షీణిస్తున్నప్పుడు, లోతైన నీటిలో తడబడే చేపలా ఎవరు నిజమైన సుఖాన్ని పొందగలరు?

Word by Word

रात्र्याम्in the night

रात्र्याम्in the night (each night)

व्यतीतायाम्having passed / when (it) has passed

आयुःlife-span

अल्पतरम्smaller / shorter (still)

यदाwhen

गाध-उदकेin shallow water

मत्स्यःa fish

इवlike / as

सुखम्happiness / comfort

विन्देतmight find / could obtain

कःwho?

तदाthen

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

fish (matsya)

night (rātri)

lifespan (āyus)

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?

Time relentlessly reduces one’s remaining life; therefore complacent pleasure is irrational. The verse urges wakefulness, restraint, and purposeful living grounded in dharma rather than chasing fleeting comforts.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on right conduct and the realities of human life. Here he emphasizes the nightly erosion of lifespan to press the listener toward ethical seriousness and inner discipline.