Shloka 12
आश्रमे वा वने वापि ग्रामे वा यदि वा पुरे । आअन्मनिं समुत्सूजेन्मोहात्तं विद्याद् ब्रह्मघातिनम्,“जो मोहवश आश्रम, वन, गाँव अथवा नगरमें आग लगा देता है, उसे भी ब्रह्मघाती ही समझना चाहिये'
Bhīṣma uvāca: āśrame vā vane vāpi grāme vā yadi vā pure | agnim ātmany samutsṛjen mohāt taṁ vidyād brahmaghātinam ||
Bhīṣma said: Whether in a hermitage, a forest, a village, or a city—whoever, out of delusion, sets fire there should be regarded as a slayer of a brāhmaṇa (brahma-ghātin).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Deliberately or carelessly unleashing fire out of delusion is condemned as a gravest transgression, equated with brahma-hatyā, because it can destroy lives, sacred residences (āśramas), and the stability of community life.
In Bhishma’s dharma-instruction discourse (Anuśāsana Parva), he classifies severe wrongs and their moral weight, stating that arson in any setting—hermitage, forest, village, or city—marks the perpetrator as a brahmaghātin.