Shloka 223
Śreyas-nirdeśa (Discerning the Superior Good): Nārada–Gālava Saṃvāda
असंत्याज्यं यदा मर्त्य: कि स्वस्थ इव तिष्ठसि | पिताजी! जब इस शरीरमें मृत्यु
asantyājyaṃ yadā martyaḥ kiṃ svastha iva tiṣṭhasi |
Wika ni Bhishma: “Kapag ang hindi maitatakwil—ang mismong kamatayan—ay nakatindig sa harap ng tao, bakit ka nananatiling tila panatag? Sa katawang ito, laging naririyan ang kamatayan, katandaan, karamdaman, at sunod-sunod na pagdurusang nagmumula sa maraming sanhi; at hindi tunay na makalalaya ang tao mula sa mga ito. Sa gayong kalagayan, bakit ka nakaupo nang walang pag-aalala?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the inevitability of death, aging, and disease, urging alertness and ethical seriousness rather than complacency. The verse presses the listener to recognize unavoidable suffering as a prompt for right living, reflection, and detachment.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhishma addresses his interlocutor with a pointed question: given that the body is bound to death, decay, and illness, why is the person behaving as if secure and untroubled? It functions as a wake-up call within Bhishma’s broader counsel on dharma and the human condition.