Shloka 41
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
अधर्मकारी धर्मेण तपसा हन्ति किल्बिषम् | ब्रुवन् स्तेन इति स्तेनं तावत् प्राप्नोति किल्बिषम्,पापाचारी मनुष्य यदि धर्माचरण और तपस्या करे तो अपने पापको नष्ट कर देता है। चोरको “यह चोर है” ऐसा कह देनेमात्रसे चोरके बराबर पापका भागी होना पड़ता है
adharmakārī dharmeṇa tapasā hanti kilbiṣam | bruvan stena iti stenaṃ tāvat prāpnoti kilbiṣam |
Bhīṣma sprach: Wer unrecht gehandelt hat, kann durch die Übung des Dharma und durch Askese (tapas) den Makel seiner Sünde vernichten. Doch schon indem man von jemandem sagt: „Er ist ein Dieb“, zieht man sich in eben diesem Maße die gleiche Befleckung des Unrechts zu, die mit dem Dieb verbunden ist.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma and tapas can purify even a wrongdoer, but speech is morally potent: labeling someone as “a thief” (especially as a condemnatory assertion) makes the speaker share in the moral taint connected with that accusation. The verse warns against careless or harmful denunciation and stresses responsibility in words.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he contrasts two ethical points: the possibility of self-purification through righteous practice and austerity, and the danger of incurring sin through injurious speech—showing that moral accountability applies not only to deeds but also to words.