Shloka 33
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
पज्चेन्द्रियपरित्यक्तं शुष्क॑ काष्ठत्वमागतम् | कस्माच्छोचथ तिष्ठन्तमात्मानं कि न शोचथ
pañcendriya-parityaktaṁ śuṣka-kāṣṭhatvam āgatam | kasmāc chocatha tiṣṭhantam ātmānaṁ kiṁ na śocatha ||
ภีษมะกล่าวว่า “กายของเด็กนี้ถูกละทิ้งโดยอินทรีย์ทั้งห้า กลายดุจไม้แห้งและนอนอยู่ต่อหน้าพวกท่าน เหตุใดจึงโศกเศร้าเพราะมัน? วันหนึ่งพวกท่านก็จักเป็นเช่นนี้—แล้วเหตุใดจึงไม่โศกเพื่อตนเอง?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma urges dispassion and clear discernment: the body, once life and sense-function depart, is inert like dry wood. Since the same fate awaits all embodied beings, grief fixated on the corpse is misplaced; one should understand impermanence and turn toward dharmic wisdom rather than attachment.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs others on dharma and right understanding after the war. Here he addresses mourners before a dead child’s body, challenging their sorrow by pointing to the body’s lifeless, sense-abandoned state and reminding them of their own inevitable mortality.