Shloka 6

उशनसः (शुक्रस्य) चरितम् — The Account of Uśanā (Śukra): Yoga, Grievance, and Pacification

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच नास्त्यनन्तं महाराज सर्व संख्यानगोचर: । पुनर्भावोडपि विख्यातो नास्ति किंचिदिहाचलम्‌

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca nāsty anantaṃ mahārāja sarvaṃ saṅkhyānagocaraḥ | punarbhāvo 'pi vikhyāto nāsti kiṃcid ihācalam ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“大王啊，此世间并无真正无尽之物。世间万有皆在数与量的范围之内，没有一样超越界限。即便再生轮回，也众所周知与败坏无常相系。总而言之，此世间没有不动之物——没有永恒常住之物。”

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'nāsti': 'there is not

• does not exist', 'anantam': 'endless

• infinite', 'mahārāja': 'O great king (address to the ruler)', 'sarvam': 'all

• everything', 'saṅkhyā-nagocaraḥ': 'within the range of counting/measure

• numerable, limited', 'punarbhāvaḥ': 'becoming again

• return to existence', 'api': 'also

• even', 'vikhyātaḥ': 'well-known

• widely recognized', 'kiṃcit': 'anything

• something', 'iha': 'here

• in this world', 'acalam': 'immovable

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Mahārāja (the king, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches the universality of impermanence: all conditioned things are limited and measurable, and even the cycle of rebirth is tied to decay and change; therefore one should not cling to worldly states as if they were permanent.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to the king, Bhishma continues his counsel by emphasizing that suffering and worldly conditions are not infinite or fixed; this supports Yudhiṣṭhira’s ethical and spiritual reorientation after the war toward steadiness, restraint, and non-attachment.