Shloka 16
Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: On the Superiority of Giving
Maitreya–Vyāsa Exemplum
भीष्मजी कहते हैं--राजन्! कीड़ेके ऐसा कहनेपर व्यासजीने उससे पूछा--“कीट! तुम्हे सुख कहाँ है?” मेरी समझमें तो तुम्हारा मर जाना ही तुम्हारे लिये सुखकी बात है; क्योंकि तुम तिर्यक् योनि--अधम कीट-योनिमें पड़े हो ।।
Bhīṣma uvāca—rājan, kīṭenaivaṃ ukte Vyāsena tam apṛcchat—“kīṭa, te sukhaṃ kutra?” mama mate tu tava maraṇam eva te śreyaḥ; yasmāt tvaṃ tiryag-yoniṃ—adhamāṃ kīṭa-yoniṃ—prāptaḥ. śabdaṃ sparśaṃ rasaṃ gandhaṃ bhogāṃś coccāvacān bahūn | nābhijānāsi kīṭa tvaṃ śreyo maraṇam eva te ||
Bhīṣma nói: “Tâu Đại vương, khi con sâu nói như vậy, Vyāsa hỏi nó: ‘Này sâu bọ, hạnh phúc của ngươi ở đâu?’ Theo ý ta, chính cái chết mới là điều tốt hơn cho ngươi, vì ngươi đã rơi vào loài sinh tạp—một kiếp thấp hèn của sâu bọ. Ngươi chẳng thực biết âm thanh, xúc chạm, vị, hương, cũng không biết bao lạc thú lớn nhỏ; bởi thế, đối với ngươi, chỉ cái chết mới là con đường tốt hơn.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts the ideal of ‘śreyas’ (true good) with mere existence in a degraded condition. It suggests that when a life-form is trapped in a low, limited embodiment with little access to conscious experience and higher aims, mere survival is not automatically the highest good; rather, liberation from that condition (here expressed starkly as death) is presented as preferable. Ethically, it pushes the listener to reflect on what counts as genuine welfare beyond sensory pleasure.
Bhishma recounts a dialogue: a worm speaks, and Vyasa responds by questioning where the worm’s happiness could be, given its low birth. Vyasa then argues that the worm cannot truly enjoy the sensory objects—sound, touch, taste, smell, and varied pleasures—so he concludes that death would be better for it than continuing in such a constrained state.