Shloka 38
Kṣemadarśa–Kālakavṛkṣīya Saṃvāda: Counsel on Impermanence, Non-attachment, and Composure in Dispossession
अर्थायिव हि केषांचिद् धननाशो भवत्युत । आनन्त्यं तत्सुखं मत्वा श्रियमन्य: परीप्सति
arthāyaiva hi keṣāṃcid dhanānāśo bhavaty uta | ānantyaṃ tat-sukhaṃ matvā śriyam anyaḥ parīpsati ||
Wika ni Bhishma: Para sa munting pakinabang—maging para lamang sa aliw—marami ang napapahamak at nauubos ang kanilang yaman. Ang iba nama’y inaakalang ang kasaganaan ay bukal ng ligayang di nauubos, kaya patuloy nila itong minimithi at hinahabol.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns that fixation on artha (material gain) and bhoga (enjoyment) often leads to the loss of wealth itself, and that mistaking prosperity for an inexhaustible source of happiness fuels endless craving. The ethical point is to see wealth as unstable and to restrain desire rather than treating riches as permanent happiness.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous living and inner peace, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira about human motivations and their consequences. Here he contrasts two common attitudes toward wealth—reckless pursuit for gain/pleasure and the delusion that prosperity guarantees lasting happiness—highlighting how both can entangle a person in suffering.