Shloka 18
Adhyāya 115: On Restraint Under Verbal Provocation in the Assembly (सभायां आक्रोश-सहिष्णुता)
अधीरजुष्टे पथि वर्तमान दमादपेतं विनयाच्च पापम् | अरिव्रतं नित्यमभूतिकामं धिगस्तु तं पापमतिं मनुष्यम्
bhīṣma uvāca | adhīra-juṣṭe pathi vartamānaṃ damād apetaṃ vinayāc ca pāpam | ari-vrataṃ nityam abhūti-kāmaṃ dhig astu taṃ pāpa-matiṃ manuṣyam ||
Bhishma said: Cursed be that sinful-minded man who walks the road favored by the reckless—far removed from self-restraint and from humility—who has taken up enmity as a vow and who constantly desires the downfall of others. Such a person, driven by sin and corrupt intent, deserves condemnation.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma condemns a character type: one who rejects self-restraint (dama) and humility (vinaya), makes hostility a life-principle (ari-vrata), and wishes for others’ decline (abhūti-kāma). The ethical lesson is that malice and undisciplined conduct are anti-dharmic and socially destructive.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Bhishma delivers a moral judgment, censuring the person who habitually follows the reckless path and lives by enmity and ill-will toward others.