Shloka 13
विमुक्ता धूतपाप्मानो निर्द्धन्द्धा निष्परिग्रहा: । मानार्हा मानिता नित्य ज्ञानविद्धिर्महात्मभि:
vimuktā dhūtapāpmāno nirdvandvā niṣparigrahāḥ | mānārhā mānitā nityaṁ jñānaviddhir mahātmabhiḥ ||
Bhishma said: “The foremost brāhmaṇas are freed from every bondage and are purified of sin. The pairs of opposites do not sway their minds. They renounce all possessions and attachments, and they are worthy of honor. Knowing sages and great-souled men continually revere them.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True excellence in a brāhmaṇa is defined by inner freedom: release from bondage, purification from sin, equanimity beyond dualities, and non-possessiveness. Such a person becomes naturally worthy of honor, and the genuinely wise honor them—not for status, but for realized virtue and knowledge.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma continues advising about the marks of spiritual and ethical greatness. Here he describes the characteristics of the foremost brāhmaṇas and notes how enlightened great-souled people consistently revere them.