Shloka 9
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
अकिंचनस्य शुद्धस्य उपपन्नस्य सर्वतः । अवेक्षमाणस्त्रीललॉकान् न तुल्यमिह लक्षये
akiñcanasya śuddhasya upapannasya sarvataḥ | avekṣamāṇas trīl lokān na tulyam iha lakṣaye ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Kapag inihahagis ko ang aking tingin sa tatlong daigdig, wala akong nakikitang sinuman dito na kapantay ng taong walang pag-aari, dalisay sa kalooban, at matatag sa pagtalikod at pagkalas sa pagkakapit sa lahat ng panig.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse extols the unsurpassed worth of the akiñcana—one who owns nothing and clings to nothing—whose purity and all-round renunciation make him incomparable even when measured against the entire ‘three worlds’. Ethical excellence is framed not as power or status, but as freedom from possessiveness and inner cleanliness.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he offers a reflective valuation: surveying all realms, he declares that no one equals the person established in poverty of possessions, purity, and comprehensive detachment—supporting his broader teaching on peace, restraint, and liberation-oriented conduct.