Shloka 21
Haṃsa–Sādhya Saṃvāda: Satya, Dama, Kṣamā and the Discipline of Speech
“यदि वे स्वजन जीवित रह जायाँ तो भी इनके भरण-पोषण और संरक्षणका कार्य समाप्त होनेसे पहले ही तुम इन्हें छोड़कर पीछे स्वयं भी तो मर जाओगे”
yadi te svajanā jīvitaṃ rahiṣyanti, tathāpi eṣāṃ bharaṇa-poṣaṇa-rakṣaṇasya kāryaṃ samāptam bhavitum pūrvam eva tvaṃ etān tyaktvā paścāt svayam api hi mariṣyasi.
Wika ni Bhishma: “Kahit mabuhay pa ang iyong mga kamag-anak, ikaw man ay mamamatay din—iiwan mo sila—bago pa man matapos ang tungkuling magtaguyod at magtanggol sa kanila.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Family maintenance and protection are ongoing and never fully ‘finished,’ but life can end at any time. Therefore, one should not delay dharmic or spiritually necessary action by claiming that worldly responsibilities must first be completed.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma addresses the listener with a sobering reminder: even if one’s relatives remain alive, the speaker will die before the endless work of supporting and protecting them is completed—urging timely commitment to dharma rather than postponement.