Shloka 38
Kṣemadarśa–Kālakavṛkṣīya Saṃvāda: Counsel on Impermanence, Non-attachment, and Composure in Dispossession
अर्थायिव हि केषांचिद् धननाशो भवत्युत । आनन्त्यं तत्सुखं मत्वा श्रियमन्य: परीप्सति,इस अर्थ या भोगके लिये ही कितने ही लोगोंके धनका नाश हो जाता है। दूसरे लोग सम्पत्तिको अक्षय सुख मानकर उसे पानेकी इच्छा करते हैं
arthāyaiva hi keṣāṃcid dhanānāśo bhavaty uta | ānantyaṃ tat-sukhaṃ matvā śriyam anyaḥ parīpsati ||
محض نفع کے لیے—بلکہ عیش و عشرت کے لیے بھی—بہت سے لوگ تباہ ہو کر اپنا مال گنوا بیٹھتے ہیں۔ اور کچھ لوگ دولت کو نہ ختم ہونے والی خوشی سمجھ کر اسے پانے کی آرزو میں لگے رہتے ہیں۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns that fixation on artha (material gain) and bhoga (enjoyment) often leads to the loss of wealth itself, and that mistaking prosperity for an inexhaustible source of happiness fuels endless craving. The ethical point is to see wealth as unstable and to restrain desire rather than treating riches as permanent happiness.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous living and inner peace, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira about human motivations and their consequences. Here he contrasts two common attitudes toward wealth—reckless pursuit for gain/pleasure and the delusion that prosperity guarantees lasting happiness—highlighting how both can entangle a person in suffering.