Shloka 126
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
त्वमेव द्वेष इच्छा च रागो मोह: क्षमाक्षमे । व्यवसायो धृतिलोंभ: कामक्रोधौ जयाजयौ
tvam eva dveṣa icchā ca rāgo mohaḥ kṣamākṣame | vyavasāyo dhṛtir lobhaḥ kāmakrodhau jayājayau ||
نفرت اور خواہش آپ ہی ہیں؛ رغبت اور فریبِ دل بھی آپ ہی ہیں؛ بردباری اور نابردباری بھی آپ ہی ہیں۔ عزم، ثابت قدمی اور لالچ آپ ہی ہیں؛ شہوت و غضب، اور فتح و شکست بھی آپ ہی ہیں۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse compresses a moral psychology: the same underlying principle (addressed as “you”) manifests as paired opposites—virtues and vices, success and failure. Ethical life therefore requires recognizing these forces within oneself and disciplining desire, anger, greed, and delusion so that resolve and forbearance support dharma.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he speaks in a didactic mode, listing the inner drives and their opposites to explain how human behavior and moral outcomes arise from the play of passions and qualities within a person.