Shloka 112
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
प्रजानामपचारेण स्वस्ति ते5स्तु महासुर । यदा श्रश्रूं स््नुषा वृद्धां परिचारेण योक्ष्यते
prajānām apacāreṇa svasti te 'stu mahāsura | yadā śvaśrūṁ snuṣā vṛddhāṁ paricāreṇa yokṣyate ||
وبسبب ما اقترفته من إساءةٍ إلى رعاياك، فليكن لك السلامة والرفاه، أيها الأسورا الجبار. سيأتي زمانٌ تُجبر فيه حماةٌ هرِمة على خدمة كنّتها بخدمةٍ وضيعة.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns that wrongdoing toward one’s subjects (prajā) brings a reversal of order and dignity: unethical governance and abuse of dependents ripen into humiliating consequences, symbolized by elders being forced into servile roles.
In Bhishma’s discourse on dharma in the Shanti Parva, he addresses a powerful, unrighteous figure (“mahāsura”) and pronounces a pointed, ironic benediction tied to moral causality: because of offenses against the people, a future inversion within the household—an old mother-in-law serving a daughter-in-law—will occur.