Shloka 123
प्रजापतयः देवगणाश्च दिशि-दिशि स्थिताः ऋषयः
Prajāpatis, Deva-Groups, and the Ṛṣis Assigned to the Directions
ब॒हस्पतिरुवाच इष्टं त्वनिष्टं च सुखासुखे च साशीस्त्ववच्छन्दति कर्मभिश्न | बृहस्पतिने कहा--भगवन्! सुख सबको अभीष्ट होता है और दुःख किसीको भी प्रिय नहीं होता। इष्टकी प्राप्ति और अनिष्टके निवारणके लिये जो कामना होती है
bṛhaspatir uvāca | iṣṭaṃ tv aniṣṭaṃ ca sukhāsukhe ca sāśīs tv avacchandati karmabhiḥ nṛṇām |
布里哈斯帕提说道：“尊者啊，乐为众人所欲，苦无一人所爱。求得所愿、遣除所不愿之欲望，驱使世人起行，而凭借这些行为，他们的目的得以成就。既如此，您为何宣说欲望应当舍弃？”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical challenge: desire for pleasure and avoidance of pain are presented as the basic drivers of human action (karma). It questions how desire can be condemned as ‘to be abandoned’ when it appears to be the very force that initiates purposeful conduct and accomplishes aims.
Within Bhīṣma’s discourse, the text reports Bṛhaspati speaking. He argues that people naturally seek the desired (iṣṭa) and avoid the undesired (aniṣṭa), and that this wishing (āśīḥ) propels them into actions that fulfill their objectives—thereby challenging an earlier claim that desire should be renounced.