Shloka 3
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
कस्यचिद् ब्राह्मणस्यासीद् दुः:खलब्ध:सुतो मृत: । बाल एव विशालाक्षो बालग्रहनिपीडित:
kasyacid brāhmaṇasyāsīd duḥkhalabdhaḥ suto mṛtaḥ | bāla eva viśālākṣo bālagrahanipīḍitaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: There was a certain brāhmaṇa who, after great hardship, obtained a son. Yet that child—handsome and large-eyed—was afflicted by a childhood-seizing spirit and died while still very young.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds impermanence and the inevitability of loss: even a long-awaited, dearly obtained blessing can be taken away. In the ethical setting of Śānti Parva, such narratives typically prepare the listener to practice steadiness, compassion, and dharmic conduct in the face of grief rather than collapse into despair.
Bhīṣma begins an illustrative story: a brāhmaṇa finally gains a son after much hardship, but the child—described as beautiful and large-eyed—becomes afflicted by a bālagraha (a traditional term for a child-seizing spirit/ailment) and dies in early childhood. This incident serves as the emotional and moral premise for the teaching that follows.