Shloka 23
Haṃsa–Sādhya Saṃvāda: Satya, Dama, Kṣamā and the Discipline of Speech
जीवन्तमपि चैवैनं भरणे रक्षणे तथा । असमाप्ते परित्यज्य पश्चादपि मरिष्यसि
jīvantam api caivainaṃ bharaṇe rakṣaṇe tathā | asamāpte parityajya paścād api mariṣyasi, mṛte vā tvayi jīve vā yadā bhokṣyati vai janaḥ | svakṛtaṃ nanu buddhvaivaṃ kartavyaṃ hitam ātmanaḥ ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Kahit panatilihin mo siyang buhay—inaalalayan at pinangangalagaan—kung iiwan mo siya bago sumapit ang itinakdang wakas, ikaw man ay haharap din sa kamatayan paglaon. Mabuhay ka man o mamatay, bawat tao sa takdang panahon ay tatanggap ng bunga ng sarili niyang gawa. Sa pagkaalam ng katotohanang ito tungkol sa karma, ituon mo ang sarili sa tunay na makabubuti para sa iyong pinakamataas na kapakanan.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma emphasizes karma and personal responsibility: each person must inevitably experience the results of their own actions, so one should not be paralyzed by anxiety over others’ fates but instead pursue what truly leads to one’s own welfare and spiritual good.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhishma counsels the listener on the inevitability of death and the inescapability of one’s own karmic results, urging a turn from anxious attachment toward purposeful effort for one’s own highest benefit.