Shloka 21
Jñāna-yoga and Karma-phala: Manu–Bṛhaspati on Akṣara and the Limits of Mantra
सायं प्रातश्न विप्राणां पूजनं च यथाविधि । पण्यानां शोभते पण्यं कृषीणां बाद्यते कृषि:
sāyaṃ prātaś ca viprāṇāṃ pūjanaṃ ca yathāvidhi | paṇyānāṃ śobhate paṇyaṃ kṛṣīṇāṃ bādhyate kṛṣiḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “In the evening and again in the morning, the proper honoring of brāhmaṇas should be performed according to rule. Trade prospers through well-conducted trade, and agriculture is sustained by diligent cultivation. Thus, each person’s dharma is fulfilled by faithfully attending to the rightful duties of one’s station and livelihood.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is upheld through regular, rule-based reverence to the learned (brāhmaṇas) and through conscientious performance of one’s own livelihood-duties: commerce flourishes by proper commerce, and farming endures by steady cultivation.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous conduct after the war. Here he emphasizes daily discipline and social order: honoring brāhmaṇas at prescribed times and performing one’s occupational duties so society remains stable and prosperous.