Shloka 25
Prajñā as Pratiṣṭhā — Indra–Kāśyapa Saṃvāda (Śānti-parva 12.173)
ब्रह्मघ्ने च सुरापे च चौरे भग्नव्रते तथा । निष्कृतिर्विहिता राजन् कृतघ्ने नास्ति निष्कृति:
brahmaghne ca surāpe ca caure bhagnavrate tathā | niṣkṛtir vihitā rājan kṛtaghne nāsti niṣkṛtiḥ ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Für den Töter eines Brāhmaṇa, für den Trinker berauschender Getränke, für den Dieb und ebenso für den, der ein heiliges Gelübde gebrochen hat, ist Sühne vorgeschrieben, o König. Doch für den Undankbaren gibt es keine Sühne.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma ranks ingratitude as a uniquely grave moral failing: even for major transgressions śāstra prescribes expiations, but for kṛtaghna—one who is ungrateful and betrays benefactors—no purificatory remedy is acknowledged, underscoring gratitude as foundational to dharma.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to the king, Bhīṣma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and contrasts expiable sins (killing a Brāhmaṇa, drinking liquor, theft, breaking vows) with the ethical corruption of ingratitude, presenting it as beyond formal atonement.