Shloka 26
दृष्टवा5<र्तोंडपि हि पापात्मा स तां पज्जरके5क्षिपत् । स्वयं दुःखाभिभूतो5पि दुःखमेवाकरोत् परे
dṛṣṭvā ārtaṃ api hi pāpātmā sa tāṃ pañjarake 'kṣipat | svayaṃ duḥkhābhibhūto 'pi duḥkham evākarot pare ||
Even after seeing her in distress, that sinful-minded man threw her into a cage. Though he himself was overwhelmed by suffering, he still inflicted nothing but suffering upon another.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Suffering does not automatically produce virtue: a person of corrupt disposition may, even while suffering, choose to harm others. The ethical lesson is to transform one’s own pain into empathy rather than into further violence.
Bhīṣma describes a wicked man who, despite seeing a woman (or vulnerable being) in distress, throws her into a cage; even though he himself is afflicted by sorrow, he still inflicts sorrow on another.