Shloka 13
Indra–Mataṅga Saṃvāda: On the rarity and responsibilities of Brāhmaṇya (इन्द्र-मतङ्ग संवादः)
अयं तु पापप्रकृतिर्बाले न कुरुते दयाम् | स्वयोनिं मानयत्येष भावो भावं नियच्छति
ayaṁ tu pāpaprakṛtir bāle na kurute dayām | svayoniṁ mānayaty eṣa bhāvo bhāvaṁ niyacchati ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Dieser ist von sündhafter Natur; darum zeigt er dem Kinde kein Erbarmen. Durch solches Unrecht vermehrt er nur den Ruf seiner eigenen Caṇḍāla-Abkunft. Wahrlich, die angeborene Natur lenkt die Regungen des Geistes.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma emphasizes that a person’s ingrained disposition (bhāva/prakṛti) strongly shapes and governs mental impulses and ethical behavior; lack of compassion reveals a corrupt nature and leads to further moral degradation.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he comments on a cruel individual who shows no mercy to a child, interpreting this act as evidence of a sinful temperament and as conduct that reinforces the person’s degraded social identity.