Shloka 16
भृगु–भरद्वाजसंवादः: वर्णभेदस्य कर्माधारितव्याख्या
Bhrigu–Bharadvaja Dialogue: A Karma-Based Account of Varṇa
अधिष्ठाय च गां लोके भुञ्जते वाहयन्ति च । उपायैर्बहुभिश्वैव वश्यानात्मनि कुर्वते
adhiṣṭhāya ca gāṁ loke bhuñjate vāhayanti ca | upāyair bahubhiś caiva vaśyān ātmani kurvate ||
Bhīṣma nói: “Trong đời này, những người có đôi tay leo lên cỗ xe buộc bò, điều khiển chúng và sử dụng theo ý muốn. Cũng chính nhờ đôi tay ấy, vận dụng muôn phương kế sách, họ còn khiến kẻ khác phải quy phục dưới quyền mình.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a practical metaphor: just as a person with hands can mount a bullock-cart, drive the oxen, and use them for one’s purposes, so too human agency—through deliberate means (upāya)—can bring situations and even other people under one’s influence. Ethically, it points to the potency of skillful action and strategy, implying responsibility in how such power is exercised.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction during the Śānti Parva, he illustrates a point about worldly capability and governance through an everyday image of driving oxen yoked to a cart, emphasizing how people employ various methods to secure control and accomplish aims.