Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 56
यथा वार्धुषिको वृद्धि दिनभेदे प्रतीक्षते । धर्मेण पिहित॑ पापं धर्ममेवाभिवर्धयेत्
yathā vārdhuṣiko vṛddhiṁ dinabhede pratīkṣate | dharmeṇa pihitaṁ pāpaṁ dharmam evābhivardhayet ||
Bhishma said: “Just as a moneylender waits for interest to grow with each passing day, so too does sin tend to increase over time. But when that sin is covered and restrained by dharma—checked through righteous conduct—it ends up strengthening dharma itself.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sin tends to compound if left unchecked, like interest accruing day by day; but when wrongdoing is restrained and overruled by dharma—through righteous choices and corrective conduct—it contributes to the strengthening of dharma (moral character and merit).
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anushasana Parva), he uses a practical analogy of a moneylender waiting for interest to grow to explain how moral tendencies can increase over time, and how deliberate adherence to dharma can suppress and transform the momentum of sin into the growth of righteousness.