Shloka 21
Haṃsa–Sādhya Saṃvāda: Satya, Dama, Kṣamā and the Discipline of Speech
“यदि वे स्वजन जीवित रह जायाँ तो भी इनके भरण-पोषण और संरक्षणका कार्य समाप्त होनेसे पहले ही तुम इन्हें छोड़कर पीछे स्वयं भी तो मर जाओगे”
yadi te svajanā jīvitaṃ rahiṣyanti, tathāpi eṣāṃ bharaṇa-poṣaṇa-rakṣaṇasya kāryaṃ samāptam bhavitum pūrvam eva tvaṃ etān tyaktvā paścāt svayam api hi mariṣyasi.
Bhishma nói: “Dẫu người thân của ngươi có sống sót, chính ngươi rồi cũng sẽ chết—bỏ họ lại phía sau—trước khi việc nuôi dưỡng và che chở cho họ có thể thật sự hoàn tất.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Family maintenance and protection are ongoing and never fully ‘finished,’ but life can end at any time. Therefore, one should not delay dharmic or spiritually necessary action by claiming that worldly responsibilities must first be completed.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma addresses the listener with a sobering reminder: even if one’s relatives remain alive, the speaker will die before the endless work of supporting and protecting them is completed—urging timely commitment to dharma rather than postponement.