Shloka 44
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
वर्षाणां हि शतं तावत् प्रतिष्ठा नाधिगच्छति । सहसंरं चैव वर्षाणां निपत्य नरकं वसेत्
varṣāṇāṃ hi śataṃ tāvat pratiṣṭhā nādhigacchati | sahasraṃ caiva varṣāṇāṃ nipatya narakaṃ vaset |
Bhishma said: For a full hundred years he finds no resting-place at all—he gains no stable footing anywhere, but wanders like a disembodied spirit. Then, for a further thousand years, he falls into hell and must dwell there.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That severe adharma can lead to prolonged post-mortem consequences: first a long period of instability without any ‘support’ or settled state, and then extended residence in hell. The verse functions as a deterrent, urging adherence to dharma by highlighting the long arc of karmic retribution.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and its results. Here he describes the fate awaiting a wrongdoer: for a hundred years the person fails to obtain any stable ‘pratiṣṭhā’ (resting-place/standing), and thereafter falls into naraka to dwell there for a thousand years.