Shloka 11
Taḍāga-Phala and Vṛkṣāropaṇa
Merit of Ponds and Tree-Planting
भवेत् स गुरुतल्पी च ब्रह्महा च स वै भवेत् । सुरापानं स कुर्याच्च यो हन्याच्छशणागतम्,जो शरणागतकी हत्या करता है, उसे गुरुपत्नीगमन, ब्रह्महत्या और मदिरापानका पाप लगता है'
bhavet sa gurutalpī ca brahmahā ca sa vai bhavet | surāpānaṃ sa kuryāc ca yo hanyāc charaṇāgatam ||
Bhīṣma said: “One who kills a person who has come seeking refuge incurs the gravest sins: he becomes as guilty as one who violates the teacher’s bed, as a slayer of a brāhmaṇa, and as a drinker of intoxicants. Thus, harming the surrendered is condemned as a supreme breach of dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Protecting one who has sought refuge is a paramount duty; killing a śaraṇāgata is treated as an extreme violation of dharma, equated with the most grievous sins (mahāpātakas) to underscore its moral severity.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he lays down a strict ethical rule: a surrendered/refuge-seeking person must not be harmed, and he emphasizes this by comparing such killing to notorious, heavily condemned transgressions.