Shloka 5

Devanagari script

अज्ञानतृप्तो विषयेष्ववगाढो न तृप्यते । अदृष्टवच्च भूतात्मा विषयेभ्यो निवर्तते,जिसको अज्ञानसे ही तृप्ति प्राप्त हो रही है, वह मनुष्य विषयोंके अगाध जलमें सदा डूबा रहकर भी कभी तृप्त नहीं होता। वह जीवात्मा प्रारब्धाधीन हुआ विषय-भोगोंकी इच्छाके कारण बारंबार इस संसारमें आता और जन्म ग्रहण करता है

Transliteration

ajñāna-tṛpto viṣayeṣv avagāḍho na tṛpyate | adṛṣṭa-vac ca bhūtātmā viṣayebhyo nivartate ||

Translation

భీష్ముడు పలికెను— అజ్ఞానమే తృప్తి అని భావించే వాడు విషయాలలో ఎంత లోతుగా మునిగినా నిజంగా తృప్తి చెందడు. అలాగే దేహధారి జీవాత్మ, అదృష్టం (ప్రారబ్ధం) తో నడిపించబడినట్టుగా, మళ్లీ మళ్లీ ఆ విషయాల వైపే తిరుగుతుంది.

Word by Word

अज्ञानतृप्तःsatisfied by ignorance

विषयेषुin sense-objects

अवगाढःplunged/immersed

नnot

तृप्यतेis satisfied

अदृष्टवत्as if unseen/without having seen

चand

भूतात्माthe embodied self/living being

विषयेभ्यःfrom sense-objects

निवर्ततेturns back/withdraws

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

bhūtātmā (the embodied self/jīva)

viṣaya (sense-objects)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Ignorance-based satisfaction is unstable: immersion in sense pleasures does not bring real contentment. Because of the unseen force of past karma and habitual craving, the embodied self keeps returning to objects of enjoyment, perpetuating bondage; true peace requires discernment and restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner discipline, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira about the psychology of desire: the jīva, lacking right knowledge, remains caught in repeated pursuit of pleasures and thus circles within worldly experience rather than attaining lasting fulfillment.