Shloka 7
Śrī-nivāsa: Traits and Conditions for the Abode of Prosperity (श्री-निवासः)
नाकर्मशीले पुरुषे वसामि न नास्तिके साड्करिके कृतघ्ने । न भिन्नवृत्ते न नृशंसवर्णे न चापि चौरे न गुरुष्वसूये
bhīṣma uvāca | nākarmaśīle puruṣe vasāmi na nāstike sāṅkarike kṛtaghne | na bhinnavṛtte na nṛśaṃsavārṇe na cāpi caure na guruṣv asūye ||
“I do not dwell within a man who is inactive in righteous action, nor within an unbeliever, nor one who promotes the confusion of social order, nor an ingrate. I do not reside in one whose conduct is broken and undisciplined, nor in one of cruel disposition; nor in a thief; nor in one who habitually finds faults in his elders and teachers.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma (and the inner presence of virtue) does not abide in a person marked by idleness toward duty, denial of moral order, ingratitude, cruel or thieving behavior, unstable conduct, or habitual fault-finding toward elders and teachers. Ethical life is framed as a set of inner dispositions that either invite or repel dharma.
In the Anushasana Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma continues his ethical counsel, listing the types of persons in whom ‘I do not dwell’—a rhetorical way of stating that righteousness/virtue abandons those who embody these vices.