दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint
Dama
तस्य मायापिनद्धाड़ा नष्टतज्ञाना विचेतस: । मानवा ज्ञानसम्मोहात् ततः क्रोध॑ प्रयान्ति वै
tasya māyāpinaddhāḍyā naṣṭa-tajñānā vicetasaḥ | mānavā jñāna-sammohāt tataḥ krodhaṁ prayānti vai ||
Bhīṣma said: When people become veiled by that Lord’s māyā, their true understanding and discernment are destroyed. Deluded in knowledge, they then fall under the sway of anger.
भीष्म उवाच
When the mind is covered by the Lord’s māyā, knowledge and discernment collapse; from that cognitive-spiritual delusion arises anger. Ethical failure is traced to inner ignorance rather than merely external provocation.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and inner discipline. Here he explains a causal chain: divine māyā veils humans, delusion follows, and anger manifests—warning the king about the psychological roots of adharma.