Shloka 22
Kīṭopākhyāna: Prajā-pālana as Kṣatra-vrata and the Attainment of Brāhmaṇya
नात्मनो<स्ति प्रियतर: पृथिवीमनुसृत्य ह । तस्मात् प्राणिषु सर्वेषु दयावानात्मवान् भवेत्
bhīṣma uvāca | nātmano 'sti priyataraḥ pṛthivīm anusṛtya ha | tasmāt prāṇiṣu sarveṣu dayāvān ātmavān bhavet ||
Bhīṣma sagte: „In dieser Welt ist einem Menschen nichts lieber als das eigene Selbst. Darum soll man allen Lebewesen mit Mitgefühl begegnen, in Selbstbeherrschung leben und die anderen als das eigene Selbst betrachten.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Since everyone values their own self above all, one should extend that same concern to all beings—cultivating compassion (dayā) and self-mastery (ātmavat), treating others as oneself.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he grounds ethical conduct in a universal psychological truth—self-love—and derives from it the duty of compassion toward all living creatures.