Shloka 11
Tapas, Tīrtha, and Moral Rehabilitation (Śānti-parva 148)
ततो यष्टिं शलाकां च क्षारकं पञ्जरं तथा । तां च बद्धां कपोतीं स प्रमुच्य विससर्ज ह,उस समय उसने उस बन्दी की हुई कबूतरीको पिंजरेसे मुक्त करके अपनी लाठी, शलाका, जाल, पिंजड़ा सब कुछ छोड़ दिया
tato yaṣṭiṃ śalākāṃ ca kṣārakaṃ pañjaraṃ tathā | tāṃ ca baddhāṃ kapotīṃ sa pramucya visasarja ha ||
Then, having released the bound she-dove from the cage, he let her go; and renouncing all the implements of capture—his staff, rod, net, and the cage itself—he cast them away. The act signals a deliberate turning from harm and possession toward compassion and restraint, aligning conduct with dharma through mercy to a vulnerable being.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is expressed through compassion and self-restraint: one should not merely stop harming but also abandon the means and mindset of harm, choosing mercy toward the helpless.
A man frees a captive she-dove from a cage and discards the tools used to capture her—staff, rod, net, and cage—showing a decisive ethical shift from taking life to protecting it.