Shloka 24
भृगु–भरद्वाजसंवादः: वर्णभेदस्य कर्माधारितव्याख्या
Bhrigu–Bharadvaja Dialogue: A Karma-Based Account of Varṇa
मनुष्या हाब्यतां प्राप्य राज्यमिच्छन्त्यनन्तरम् । राज्याद् देवत्वमिच्छन्ति देवत्वादिन्द्रतामपि
manuṣyāḥ ābhavyatāṁ prāpya rājyam icchanty anantaram | rājyād devatvam icchanti devatvād indratām api ||
毗湿摩说道：“人一得人身，便立刻希求王权；得王权又渴望成神；成神之后，甚至还要追逐因陀罗之位。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Human desire tends to escalate: attaining one status (human life, then kingship) often leads to craving higher and higher ranks (divinity, then Indra’s position). The ethical point is to recognize this pattern of insatiability and cultivate restraint and right understanding rather than letting ambition endlessly expand.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, Bhishma is teaching Yudhishthira about the nature of human longing and the dangers of unchecked aspiration, using a graded sequence of ambitions—human life → kingship → godhood → Indra-ship—to illustrate how desire rarely ends by itself.