Shloka 114
उद्दीपकाश्न गृध्राश्ष॒ कपोता भ्रमरास्तथा | निविशेयुर्यदा तत्र शान्तिमेव तदा55चरेत् । अमंगल्यानि चैतानि तथाक्रोशो महात्मनाम्,उद्दीपक, गीध, कपोत (जंगली कबूतर) और भ्रमर नामक पक्षी यदि कभी घरमें आ जायँ तो सदा उसकी शान्ति ही करानी चाहिये; क्योंकि ये अमंगलकारी होते हैं। महात्माओंकी निन््दा भी मनुष्यका अकल्याण करनेवाली है
uddīpakāś ca gṛdhrāś ca kapotā bhramarās tathā | niviśeyur yadā tatra śāntim eva tadā caret || amaṅgalyāni caitāni tathākrośo mahātmanām ||
Bhishma said: “If, at any time, creatures such as the uddīpaka-bird, vultures, wild pigeons, and bees should enter one’s dwelling, one should then perform rites of pacification alone; for these are regarded as inauspicious omens. Likewise, reviling great-souled persons brings misfortune upon a man.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Two linked ethical cautions are given: (1) when inauspicious signs appear (here, certain creatures entering the home), one should respond with calming, corrective action—śānti—rather than panic or aggression; (2) more importantly, abusing or disparaging noble, great-souled people is itself a direct cause of one’s misfortune.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on righteous conduct (Anuśāsana Parva), he lists traditional omens and prescribes the appropriate response: perform pacificatory measures if such signs occur. He then broadens the lesson to moral causality, warning that reviling the virtuous is also an inauspicious act that harms the doer.