Shloka 22
Adhyāya 118: Saciva-parīkṣā
Testing and Appointment of Ministers/Servants
मया स्नेहपरीतेन विसृष्टो न कुलान्वय: । यस्मादेवमपापं मां पाप हिंसितुमिच्छसि । तस्मात् स्वयोनिमापत्न: श्वैव त्वं हि भविष्यसि
mayā snehaparītena visṛṣṭo na kulānvayaḥ | yasmād evam apāpaṁ māṁ pāpa hiṁsitum icchasi | tasmāt svayonim āpannaḥ śvaiva tvaṁ hi bhaviṣyasi ||
قال بهيشما: «مع أنّك وُلدتَ في سلالةٍ وضيعة، لم أطرحك جانبًا إذ غمرني الودّ. لكنّك—وأنت آثم—تريد إيذائي، وأنا لم أُضمر لك سوءًا قط. لذلك ستسقط عائدًا إلى رحمك الأول، وستكون كلبًا من جديد حقًّا.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Affection and protection offered even to the low-born does not justify betrayal; deliberate harm toward one who has shown goodwill is framed as grave adharma, inviting karmic retribution—here expressed as a return to a degraded birth.
Bhishma addresses an aggressor who, despite having been spared and supported out of affection, now attempts to kill him. Bhishma condemns the ingratitude and pronounces a punitive consequence: the attacker will revert to a former birth as a dog.