Shloka 41
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
यत् करोति शुभं कर्म तथा कर्म सुदारुणम् । तत् कर्तैव समश्नाति बान्धवानां किमत्र ह,प्राणी जो शुभ या अशुभ कर्म करता है, उसका फल भी करनेवाला ही भोगता है। इसमें भाई-बन्धुओंका क्या है?
yat karoti śubhaṃ karma tathā karma sudāruṇam | tat kartaiva samaśnāti bāndhavānāṃ kim atra ha ||
Bhīṣma said: Whatever auspicious deed a person performs, and likewise whatever terribly harmful deed, the doer alone consumes its result. What role do relatives have in this matter?
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral causality is personal: the agent who performs good or harmful actions is the one who experiences their results; relatives cannot truly share, transfer, or cancel that karmic outcome.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and conduct, Bhīṣma emphasizes individual accountability, warning that one should not rely on family ties to escape the consequences of one’s own deeds.