Shloka 11
Gaṅgā-māhātmya: Siddha–Śilavṛtti-saṃvāda and Gaṅgā-stava (गङ्गामाहात्म्यं—सिद्ध-शिलवृत्ति-संवादः)
“जो पापपरायण मूढ़ मनुष्य ब्राह्मणोंको अकारण ही मर्मभेदी शोक प्रदान करता है, उसे ब्रह्मघाती जाने ।। चक्षुषा विप्रहीणस्य पंगुलस्य जडस्य वा । हरेत यो वै सर्वस्वं त॑ विद्याद् ब्रहद्मघातिनम्,“जो अन्धे, लूले और गूँगे मनुष्योंका सर्वस्व हर लेता है, उसे ब्रह्मघाती जाने
bhīṣma uvāca | yo pāpaparāyaṇaḥ mūḍhaḥ manuṣyo brāhmaṇān akāraṇam eva marmabhedīṃ śokaṃ pradadāti, taṃ brahmaghātī jānīyāt || cakṣuṣā viprahīṇasya paṅgulasya jaḍasya vā | haret yo vai sarvasvaṃ taṃ vidyād brahmaghātinam ||
Bhīṣma said: The deluded man devoted to sin who, without cause, inflicts heart-piercing grief upon brāhmaṇas should be regarded as a brahma-ghātin. Likewise, whoever seizes the entire livelihood of one who is blind, or lame, or helpless and dull-witted—such a person should be known as a brahma-ghātin.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Deliberately causing unjustified, deep suffering to Brahmins, and exploiting those who are physically or mentally helpless by taking their entire livelihood, are treated as among the gravest moral offenses—classified here as brahma-ghāta (a sin comparable in severity to brahmahatyā).
In Anushasana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma is laying down ethical standards for conduct: he condemns gratuitous cruelty toward the spiritually venerable and predatory theft from the defenseless, marking both as extreme adharma.