Shloka 20
जो दूसरोंसे सम्मान नहीं चाहते, जो स्वयं ही दूसरोंको सम्मान देते हैं और सम्माननीय पुरुषोंको नमस्कार करते हैं, वे दुर्लघ्य संकटोंसे पार हो जाते हैं ।। येच श्राद्धानि कुर्वन्ति तिथ्यां तिथ्यां प्रजार्थिन: । सुविशुद्धेन मनसा दुर्गाण्यतितरन्ति ते,जो संतानकी इच्छा रखकर प्रत्येक तिथिपर विशुद्ध हृदयसे पितरोंका श्राद्ध करते हैं, वे दुर्गम विपत्तिसे छुटकारा पा जाते हैं
yo dūsarebhyaḥ sammānaṁ na icchanti, ye svayam eva dūsarān sammānaṁ dadati ca sammānīyān puruṣān namaskurvanti, te durlaṅghyān saṅkaṭān atitaranti. ye ca śrāddhāni kurvanti tithyāṁ tithyāṁ prajārthinaḥ, suviśuddhena manasā durgāṇy atitaranti te.
Bhīṣma said: Those who do not crave honor from others, who themselves offer honor to others, and who bow to men worthy of reverence—such people cross even hardships that are difficult to surmount. Likewise, those who, desiring offspring, perform ancestral śrāddha on each lunar day with a thoroughly purified mind, they too pass beyond perilous and impassable calamities.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that humility and active respect—not craving recognition, honoring others, and bowing to the truly venerable—create moral strength that helps one overcome severe crises. He adds that sincere, pure-minded performance of ancestral śrāddha, especially by one seeking progeny, is also presented as a dharmic support that carries a person through difficult misfortunes.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he is listing conduct and observances that protect a person in adversity: social-ethical discipline (humility and honoring the worthy) and ritual-ancestral duty (regular śrāddha performed with purity of intention).