Shloka 16
Janamejaya’s Appeal for Pacification and Śaunaka’s Counsel on Humility (जनमेजय-शौनक संवादः)
न मे5स्ति विभवो येन नाशयेयं क्षुधां तव । उत्पन्नेन हि जीवामो वयं नित्यं वनौकस:
na me 'sti vibhavo yena nāśayeyam kṣudhāṃ tava | utpannena hi jīvāmo vayaṃ nityaṃ vanaukasaḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“我并无手段可以解除你的饥饿。我们这些栖居林野者，每一日只凭自然生起之物而活；因此，我们恒常以随得随食、得之即用而存身。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical realism and contentment: one should acknowledge one’s limited means without deceit, and it praises a life of simple subsistence—living on what is naturally obtained—reflecting restraint and non-attachment.
Bhishma, speaking in the Shanti Parva’s instructional setting, responds to someone’s hunger by stating he lacks the resources to relieve it, explaining that forest-dwellers survive on whatever food or support happens to arise, rather than on stored wealth or assured provisions.