Shloka 19
Rājā–Rāja-Śabda-Prabhavaḥ — The Origin and Rationale of Kingship and Daṇḍanīti
तांस्तु कामवशं प्राप्तान् रागो नाम समस्पृशत् । रक्ताश्न नाभ्यजानन्त कार्याकार्ये युधिष्ठिर,युधिष्ठिर! कामके अधीन हुए उन मनुष्योंपर क्रोध नामक शत्रुने आक्रमण किया। क्रोधके वशीभूत होकर वे यह न जान सके कि क्या कर्तव्य है और क्या अकर्तव्य?
tāṁs tu kāmavaśaṁ prāptān rāgo nāma samaspṛśat | raktāś ca nābhyajānanta kāryākārye yudhiṣṭhira ||
কামের বশে পতিত সেই মানুষদের পরে রাগ আচ্ছন্ন করল। রাগে রক্ত হয়ে, হে যুধিষ্ঠির, তারা আর বুঝতে পারল না—কোনটি কর্তব্য, কোনটি অকর্তব্য।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When desire takes control, it gives rise to attachment/passion (rāga), which clouds judgment; a person then loses the ability to distinguish kārya (duty/right action) from akārya (wrong/forbidden action).
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira in the Shanti Parva, he explains how people who become dominated by desire are overtaken by passion, and in that state they fail to recognize what is ethically required versus what is prohibited.