Shloka 35
Śrī–Indra–Bali Saṃvāda: The Departure and Fourfold Placement of Lakṣmī
यदा स्वरूपतश्चान्यो जातित: शुभतो<र्थत: । कथमस्मिन् स इत्येवं सर्व वा स्यादसंहितम्
yadā svarūpataścānyo jātitaḥ śubhato'rthataḥ | katham asmin sa ityevaṁ sarva vā syād asaṁhitam ||
毗湿摩说道：“若从一刹那到下一刹那，有情在其本性上便已全然不同——种类不同、吉祥之德不同、所趋目的亦不同——又怎能对这一个说：‘这就是那同一个’？如此一来，经验与行持的一切连贯性都将崩解。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma argues that if a person is wholly different at every moment in nature, kind, moral quality, and purpose, then recognition and responsibility become impossible—one could not validly say “this is the same person,” and ethical-religious life (effort, enjoyment, liberation) loses coherence.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Bhīṣma is presenting an objection (from the āstika standpoint) against a doctrine of momentariness: he highlights that denying continuity undermines recognition (pratyabhijñā) and makes the linkage between desire, practice, and result unintelligible.