Shloka 35
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
सुवर्णहरणं स्तैन्यं विप्रस्व॑ चेति पातकम् । विहरन् मद्यपानाच्च अगम्यागमनादपि
suvarṇa-haraṇaṁ stainyaṁ viprasvaṁ ceti pātakam | viharan madya-pānāc ca agamyā-gamanād api |
Bhishma said: “The taking of gold, theft, and the seizure of a brāhmaṇa’s property—these are grave sins. A man who indulges in intoxicating drink, who goes to women with whom one must not consort, and who keeps company with the fallen, quickly becomes degraded; likewise, one who is not a brāhmaṇa and yet has intercourse with a Brāhmaṇī falls from right conduct.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that certain acts—stealing gold, theft in general, and taking a brāhmaṇa’s wealth—are major sins, and that habitual indulgence in intoxicants, illicit sexual relations, and association with morally fallen people rapidly leads to spiritual and social degradation (patitatva).
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he enumerates serious transgressions and describes how self-indulgent conduct (especially drink, forbidden sexual conduct, and corrupt company) causes a person to fall from righteous living.