Shloka 106
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
भीष्म उवाच गृध्रो5स्तमित्याह गतो गतो नेति च जम्बुक: । मृतस्य तं परिजनमूचतुस्तौ क्षुधान्विती
bhīṣma uvāca gṛdhro 'stam ity āha gato gato neti ca jambukaḥ | mṛtasya taṃ parijanam ūcatus tau kṣudhānvitau ||
Bhishma sprach: „Der Geier erklärte: ‚Er ist zu Ende (tot).‘ Der Schakal jedoch sagte immer wieder: ‚Fort, fort—nein, nicht fort!‘ So redeten jene beiden, vom Hunger getrieben, über den Toten und seine Angehörigen und zeigten, wie Begierde Wort und Urteil verdreht, selbst in Fragen von Leben, Tod und Pflicht.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hunger and craving can bend perception and speech, leading beings to interpret even death and social bonds in self-serving ways; ethical clarity requires mastery over such impulses.
Bhishma reports a brief scene where a vulture and a jackal, both hungry, comment differently on someone’s death—one asserting it is over, the other repeatedly insisting ‘gone—no, not gone’—as they speak about the dead person and his family, highlighting appetite-driven distortion.