Shloka 83
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
लाभालाभौ सुखं दु:खं कामक्रोधौ भवाभवौ
lābhālābhau sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ kāmakrodhau bhavābhavau
毗湿摩说：得与失、乐与苦、欲与怒、有与无——这些成对的境况在世间生活中生起。应当了知它们是来去无常的对立面，因此不应让它们动摇自己在法（dharma）中的坚定。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse groups life’s opposites—gain/loss, pleasure/pain, desire/anger, becoming/non-becoming—to highlight their fluctuating nature. The ethical lesson is to cultivate steadiness and self-control, not allowing these changing conditions to derail one’s commitment to dharma.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous living and inner discipline after the war. Here he succinctly lists paired worldly states and impulses as part of his broader counsel on detachment and mental balance.