Shloka 36
बलीन्द्रसंवादः — Kāla, Anityatā, and the Limits of Agency
Mahābhārata 12.217
सूच्या सूत्र यथा वस्त्रे संसारयति वायक: । तद्वत् संसारसूत्र हि तृष्णासूच्या निबद्धयते
sūcyā sūtraṃ yathā vastre saṃsārayati vāyakaḥ | tadvat saṃsārasūtraṃ hi tṛṣṇāsūcyā nibaddhyate ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Gaya ng manghahabi na gumagamit ng karayom upang ipasok ang sinulid sa tela, gayon din ang ‘hibla’ ng pag-iral sa daigdig ay itinatali at hinahabi ng karayom ng pagnanasa. Ang pagnanasa ang tumatahi sa mga nilalang sa saṃsāra at nagpapanatili sa telang binubuo ng paulit-ulit na kapanganakan at pagdurusa.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Craving (tṛṣṇā) is the binding instrument that ‘stitches’ a being into saṃsāra; by reducing desire, one loosens the very mechanism that keeps worldly bondage continuous.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma and liberation-oriented ethics. Here he uses a vivid craft metaphor—needle, thread, and cloth—to explain how desire functions as the practical cause that binds life to repeated worldly entanglement.