Shloka 22
अहिंसयित्वा ब्रह्महत्याविधानम् / Brahmahatyā incurred without physical violence
मेदानां पुल्कसानां च तथैवान्तेवसायिनाम् । कृतं कर्माकृतं वापि रागमोहेन जल्पताम्
medānāṁ pulkasānāṁ ca tathaivāntevāsayinām | kṛtaṁ karmākṛtaṁ vāpi rāgamohena jalpatām ||
Bhishma sprach: „Wer von Begierde und Verblendung überwältigt ist und vor aller Augen mit verdienstvollen Taten prahlt — ob er sie wirklich vollbracht hat oder nicht —, der ist für nicht besser zu halten als die Medas, die Pulindas/Pulkasas und die Antyajas (Ausgestoßene). Die ethische Lehre lautet: Selbstanpreisung und falsche Ansprüche auf Tugend erniedrigen den Menschen, ungeachtet von Geburt oder Stand.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Merit is diminished by vanity: proclaiming one’s good deeds (or falsely claiming them) out of attachment and delusion is ethically degrading. True dharma values sincerity, restraint in speech, and inner integrity over public self-advertisement.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhishthira on dharma and proper conduct. Here he censures those who, despite belonging to higher social ranks, become driven by rāga and moha and boast before people about virtuous acts done or not done, equating such conduct with socially condemned statuses to stress moral, not merely birth-based, evaluation.