Shloka 7
आपद्धर्मे वैश्यवृत्तिः, विक्रय-निषेधाः, तथा ब्रह्म-क्षत्र-सम्बन्धः
Emergency Livelihood, Prohibited Trade, and Brahman–Kshatra Regulation
पकक््वेनामस्य निमयं न प्रशंसन्ति साधव: । निमयेत् पक्वमामेन भोजनार्थाय भारत
pakvenāmasya nimayaṃ na praśaṃsanti sādhavaḥ | nimayet pakvamāmena bhojanārthāya bhārata ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Die Tugendhaften preisen es nicht, Reifes und Gutes gegen Unreifes einzutauschen. O Bhārata, wenn das Ziel Nahrung und Lebensunterhalt ist, so tausche vielmehr das Unreife gegen das Reife.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not trade away what is already mature, sound, and beneficial for something inferior or premature; in matters of sustenance and duty, choose exchanges that increase real welfare—prefer giving the lesser (unripe) to obtain the better (ripe), not the reverse.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and prudent conduct, Bhishma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira (Bhārata) with a practical ethical maxim using the metaphor of ripe vs. unripe goods to illustrate what kinds of exchanges the virtuous approve.