Shloka 35
Adhyāya 159 — Dāna–Dakṣiṇā, Āpaddharma Measures, and Prāyaścitta Classifications
धर्मप्रियांस्तानू सुमहानु भावान् दान्तो5प्रमत्तश्न॒ समर्चयेथा: । दैवात् सर्वे गुणवन्तो भवन्ति शुभाशुभे वाक्प्रलापास्तथान्ये
bhīṣma uvāca | dharmapriyāṁs tān ū su-mahānubhāvān dānto 'pramattaś ca samarcayethāḥ | daivāt sarve guṇavanto bhavanti śubhāśubhe vāk-pralāpās tathānye, tāta |
Bhishma said: With self-control and constant vigilance, you should honor and serve those dharma-loving, truly great-souled persons. By the dispensation of fate (and by their very nature), such men are endowed with virtues; when they speak about what is auspicious and inauspicious, their words are truthful and reliable—whereas others merely indulge in empty talk.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Honor and serve genuinely virtuous, dharma-loving great souls with self-restraint and vigilance, because their guidance about what is auspicious or harmful is trustworthy, unlike the empty talk of the unwise.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues advising the listener (addressed as 'tāta', commonly Yudhiṣṭhira) on ethical conduct after the war, emphasizing whom one should revere and rely upon for moral discernment.