Shloka 24
Chapter 2: Sudarśana Upākhyāna — Atithi-Dharma and the Conquest of Mṛtyu
Gṛhastha-Vrata
दुष्कृतं मम कि नु स्याद् भवतां वा द्विजर्षभा: । येन नाशं जगामाग्नि: कृतं कुपुरुषेष्विव,विप्रवरो! मुझसे या आपलोगोंसे कौन-सा ऐसा दुष्कर्म बन गया है जिससे अग्निदेव दुष्ट मनुष्योंके प्रति किये गये उपकारके समान नष्ट हो गये हैं
duṣkṛtaṁ mama ki nu syād bhavatāṁ vā dvijarṣabhāḥ | yena nāśaṁ jagāmāgniḥ kṛtaṁ kupuruṣeṣv iva ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „O Bester der Brāhmaṇas, welches Unrecht könnte begangen worden sein – von mir oder von euch –, wodurch Agni ins Verderben ging, als wäre eine gute Tat an schlechten Menschen dazu bestimmt, vergeblich zu sein?“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral causality: when a sacred power like Agni is diminished, Bhishma interprets it as a sign of some ethical fault (duṣkṛta). It also warns that beneficence directed toward the wicked may become fruitless—good acts require discernment about recipients and context.
Bhishma addresses eminent Brahmins and wonders what fault—his or theirs—could have led to Agni’s decline. He frames Agni’s ‘ruin’ as analogous to a good deed wasted on bad people, expressing concern that some lapse in dharma has produced an ominous outcome.