Shloka 2
Varṇa-lakṣaṇa and Ātma-saṃyama (Marks of Social Conduct and Self-Restraint) | वर्णलक्षणम् एवं आत्मसंयमः
भीष्म उवाच आत्मनानर्थयुक्तेन पापे निविशते मन: । स्वकर्मकलुषं कृत्वा कृच्छे लोके विधीयते,भीष्मजीने कहा--राजन्! काम, क्रोध आदि दोषोंसे युक्त बुद्धिकी प्रेरणासे मन पापकर्ममें प्रवृत्त होता है। इस प्रकार मनुष्य अपने ही कार्योद्वारा पाप करके दुःखमय लोक (नरक) में गिराया जाता है
bhīṣma uvāca ātmanānarthayuktena pāpe niviśate manaḥ | svakarmakaluṣaṃ kṛtvā kṛcchre loke vidhīyate ||
Bhishma said: When the self is allied with what is harmful—driven by faults such as desire and anger—the mind enters into sin. Having stained itself through its own deeds, a person is thereby assigned to a world of hardship and suffering (a hellish state).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The mind falls into sinful action when the person aligns with harmful impulses (like desire and anger). Because karma is self-made, the resulting suffering is also self-incurred: one’s own deeds lead one into a painful state of existence.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and conduct, Bhishma continues advising the king (Yudhishthira) about ethical causality: inner faults corrupt the mind, and actions born from that corruption bring inevitable suffering.