Shloka 9
Taḍāga-Phala and Vṛkṣāropaṇa
Merit of Ponds and Tree-Planting
ब्राह्माणेष्वार्जवं यच्च स्थैर्य च धरणीतले । सौम्यतां चैव सोमस्य गाम्भीर्य वरुणस्य च
bhīṣma uvāca | brāhmaṇeṣv ārjavaṁ yac ca sthairyaṁ ca dharaṇītale | saumyatāṁ caiva somasya gāmbhīryaṁ varuṇasya ca |
Bhishma said: “Just as Brahmins are marked by straightforwardness, the earth by steadfastness, Soma by gentleness, and Varuṇa (the ocean) by depth—so too there are inviolable boundaries that uphold the world’s moral order. The man who kills one who has sought refuge is understood to overstep and shatter these very limits, becoming a destroyer of the sanctities that sustain dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that killing a person who has sought refuge (śaraṇāgata) is a grave violation of dharma. Such an act is portrayed as transgressing the natural and moral boundaries exemplified by the defining virtues of Brahmins, the earth, Soma, and Varuṇa—thereby undermining the very order that sustains society.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on righteous conduct and moral law. Here he uses a chain of cosmic and social exemplars—Brahmin integrity, the earth’s stability, Soma’s gentleness, and Varuṇa’s depth—to emphasize the enormity of betraying and killing someone who has come seeking protection.