Shloka 80
Vyāghra–Gomāyu Saṃvāda (व्याघ्रगोमायु संवाद) — Testing Character Beneath Appearances
अवमानेन युक्तस्य स्थानभ्रष्टस्य वा पुन: । कथं यास्यसि विश्वासमहं तिष्ठामि वा कथम्
avamānena yuktasya sthānabhraṣṭasya vā punaḥ | kathaṃ yāsyasi viśvāsaṃ ahaṃ tiṣṭhāmi vā katham ||
Bhishma said: “If a person is burdened with humiliation, or has again been displaced from his rightful station, how can he ever come to trust? And how, in such a situation, can I remain steady and secure?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Humiliation and loss of rightful standing corrode trust and inner stability; ethical governance should avoid dishonoring or unjustly displacing people, because social confidence and personal steadiness depend on dignity and secure status.
In the instruction-filled Shānti Parva, Bhīṣma is speaking as a counselor on dharma and statecraft, reflecting on the psychological and moral consequences of dishonor and dispossession—questioning how trust can arise, and how one can remain firm, when a person has been shamed or stripped of position.