Shloka 39

Haṃsa–Sādhya Saṃvāda: Satya, Dama, Kṣamā and the Discipline of Speech

Devanagari script

वलीपलितसंयोगे कार्श्य॑ वैवर्ण्यमेव च । कुब्जभावं च जरया य: पश्यति स मुच्यते

Transliteration

valīpalitasaṃyoge kārśyaṃ vaivarṇyam eva ca | kubjabhāvaṃ ca jarayā yaḥ paśyati sa mucyate ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“若常观老来之相——皱纹与白发、消瘦与容色衰败，以及由衰老所致的佝偻弯背——此人便得解脱。恒常思惟身体不可避免的败坏，执著自松，遂趋向解脱。”

Word by Word

• {'valī': 'wrinkle, fold of skin', 'palita': 'grey/white hair

• hoariness', 'saṃyoga': 'conjunction, occurrence, coming together (here: the onset/appearance of signs)', 'kārśya': 'leanness, emaciation', 'vaivarṇya': 'loss/change of color

• loss of luster/complexion', 'eva': 'indeed, just, emphatically', 'kubjabhāva': 'hunched condition

• becoming bent or hump-backed', 'jarā': 'old age, senescence', 'yaḥ': 'who(ever)', 'paśyati': 'sees, observes, keeps in view, contemplates', 'saḥ': 'he, that person', 'mucyate': 'is released, is freed (from bondage/samsara)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

To cultivate dispassion by repeatedly reflecting on the body’s inevitable deterioration—wrinkles, greying, weakness, loss of beauty, and stooping—so that attachment to bodily identity fades and liberation becomes possible.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira practical contemplations that generate vairagya (detachment). Here he points to observable signs of aging as a meditative reminder of impermanence.