Shloka 20
Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)
आनुृशंस्यं परो धर्म इति तस्मै प्रदीयते । यत्र तत्र समुत्पन्नं गुणायैवोपपद्यते,दया सबसे बड़ा धर्म है। यह समझकर ही उसे धनका भाग दिया जाता है। दया जहाँ भी उत्पन्न हो, वह गुणकारक ही होती है
Bhīṣma uvāca: ānṛśaṁsyaṁ paro dharma iti tasmai pradīyate | yatra tatra samutpannaṁ guṇāyaivopapadyate ||
‘দয়ােই পৰম ধৰ্ম’—এই বোধে তাক অংশ দিয়া হয়। দয়া য’তেই-ত’তেই, যিকোনো অৱস্থাত উদ্ভৱ হওক, সি নিশ্চয় গুণ-পুণ্যই সাধন কৰে।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that ānṛśaṁsya (compassion/non-cruelty) is the supreme form of dharma, and that wherever compassion arises it necessarily produces guṇa—moral excellence and beneficial outcomes.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anushasana Parva), he emphasizes compassion as a decisive ethical principle, presenting it as a reason for granting a person their due share and as a universally beneficial quality in any context.