Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 156
ब्रह्मस्वहरण-निषेधः — Prohibition of Appropriating Brahmin Property
Brahmasva
तुलया धारयन् धर्ममभिमान्यतिरिच्यते । वह तीस नरकोंमें पड़कर अंतमें अपनी ही विष्ठापर जीनेवाला कीड़ा होता है। कुत्तोंको पालना
tulayā dhārayan dharmam abhimāny atiricyate |
The Cāṇḍāla said: “When dharma is weighed on a balance, pride outweighs it.” The point is that arrogance can become heavier than righteousness itself—so powerful a fault that, when set against other grave sins, it tips the scale and drags a person toward ruin.
चाण्डाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Pride (abhimāna) is portrayed as a uniquely destructive fault: when moral choices are ‘weighed,’ arrogance can outweigh dharma itself, corrupting judgment and leading one away from righteous conduct.
A Chāṇḍāla speaker delivers a pointed ethical maxim using the metaphor of a balance: in the moral reckoning of actions and dispositions, pride is said to tip the scale, emphasizing its danger within dharma-discourse in the Anuśāsana Parva.