Shloka 47
मृत्यु-काल-प्रबोधनम् (Instruction on Mortality, Time, and Truth) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 169
पूर्वान् समर द्विज ज्ञातीन् प्रख्यातान् वेदपारगान् । तेषां वंशेडभिजातस्त्वमीदृश: कुलपांसन:,“ब्रह्म! अपने पूर्वजोंको तो याद कर। उनकी कितनी ख्याति थी। वे कैसे वेदोंके पारड्गत विद्वान थे और तू उन्हींके वंशमें पैदा होकर ऐसा कुलकलड्क निकला
pūrvān samara dvija jñātīn prakhyātān vedapāragān | teṣāṁ vaṁśe 'bhijātas tvam īdṛśaḥ kulapāṁsanaḥ ||
قال بهيشما: «يا براهميّ، تذكّر أسلافك—أقرباءك المشهورين الذين بلغوا غاية الإحاطة بالڤيدا. وُلدتَ في سلالتهم، فإذا بك تصير هكذا: عارًا يلطّخ شرف الأسرة.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should uphold the standards of dharma and learning associated with one’s lineage; forgetting ancestral exemplars and acting ignobly brings moral shame and social dishonor.
Bhīṣma rebukes a brāhmaṇa, urging him to remember his celebrated, Veda-master ancestors and condemning him as a ‘family-disgrace’ for behaving contrary to that inherited ideal.