Brāhmaṇa-kṛtya, Āśrama-niyama, and Dāna-prasaṃsā
Duties of the Brāhmaṇa, āśrama discipline, and praise of giving
पययिह्न्यमानानामभियोक्ता न विद्यते | दुःखमेतत् तु यद् द्वेष्टा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते
paryāyihnyamānānām abhiyoktā na vidyate | duḥkham etat tu yad dveṣṭā kartāham iti manyate ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Para taong paulit-ulit na tinatamaan ng ligaya at pighating dumarating ayon sa takbo ng panahon ay walang ibang masisisi—walang panlabas na salarin. Narito ang tunay na dalamhati: kinapopootan ng tao ang kasalukuyang sakit at iniisip, ‘Ako ang gumawa (ng pagdurusang ito),’ kaya’t sa poot at maling pag-aangking siya ang may gawa, itinatali niya ang sarili sa pagdadalamhati.”
भीष्म उवाच
Pleasure and pain arise in the natural course of time; blaming an external agent is misguided. Suffering deepens when one reacts with aversion and falsely identifies as the autonomous doer—“I am the maker of this”—instead of seeing experiences as time-conditioned and to be borne with equanimity.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhishthira, Bhishma continues his ethical-philosophical counsel, explaining how wise understanding of time, causality, and non-attachment reduces grief and prevents the mind from creating an enemy or culprit for inevitable life experiences.