Shloka 38
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
अन्योन्यभक्षणं दृष्टवा भूतानामपि चाशुभम् | बाल्ये मोहं च विज्ञाय क्षयं देहस्य चाशुभम्
anyonya-bhakṣaṇaṁ dṛṣṭvā bhūtānām api cāśubham | bālye mohaṁ ca vijñāya kṣayaṁ dehasya cāśubham ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Kapag nakita mong maging ang mga nilalang na may buhay ay gumagawa ng di-mapalad na gawain—ang maglamon sa isa’t isa—pag-isipan kung gaano ito kabigat at kasuklam-suklam. Alamin din na sa pagkabata, natatakpan ng kamangmangan ang isip; at sa katandaan, dumarating sa katawan ang di-mapalad na paghina at pagkapuksa.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the inherent suffering and moral ugliness of samsaric life: beings harm and consume one another; the mind is deluded in youth; and the body inevitably decays in old age. The point is to cultivate clear discernment (viveka) and dispassion toward transient pleasures, turning the intellect toward liberation.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and the path beyond sorrow. Here he uses stark observations about nature and human life—predation, childhood delusion, and bodily decline—to press the listener toward sober reflection and renunciatory wisdom.