Shloka 29
Kṣemadarśa–Kālakavṛkṣīya Saṃvāda: Counsel on Impermanence, Non-attachment, and Composure in Dispossession
यथालब्धोपपन्नार्थस्तथा कौसल्य रंस्यसे । कच्चिच्छुद्धस्वभावेन श्रिया हीनो न शोचसि
yathālabdhopapannārthas tathā kauśalya raṁsyase | kaccic chuddhasvabhāvena śriyā hīno na śocasi, kosalanareśa |
Wika ni Bhishma: “O Kauśalya, magagawa mo bang mamuhay na kasingpanatag ng dati, na ikinatutuwa ang anumang dumarating sa iyo dahil sa tadhana at pagkakataon? O hari ng Kosala, ngayong ikaw ay napagkaitan ng karangyaan ng paghahari, nananatili ka bang malaya sa dalamhati, taglay ang dalisay at matatag na kalooban?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse commends yathā-lābha-santoṣa—contentment with what comes unbidden—and tests inner purity by asking whether one can remain free from grief even when prosperity and royal status are lost.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs and examines a ruler’s mental steadiness: he asks the king of Kosala whether, after losing royal fortune, he can still live joyfully with whatever circumstances arise, without sorrow.