Shloka 112
प्रजानामपचारेण स्वस्ति ते5स्तु महासुर । यदा श्रश्रूं स््नुषा वृद्धां परिचारेण योक्ष्यते
prajānām apacāreṇa svasti te 'stu mahāsura | yadā śvaśrūṁ snuṣā vṛddhāṁ paricāreṇa yokṣyate ||
By the wrongdoing done toward one’s subjects, may there be welfare to you, O mighty asura. The time will come when an aged mother-in-law will be made to serve a daughter-in-law through menial attendance.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns that wrongdoing toward one’s subjects (prajā) brings a reversal of order and dignity: unethical governance and abuse of dependents ripen into humiliating consequences, symbolized by elders being forced into servile roles.
In Bhishma’s discourse on dharma in the Shanti Parva, he addresses a powerful, unrighteous figure (“mahāsura”) and pronounces a pointed, ironic benediction tied to moral causality: because of offenses against the people, a future inversion within the household—an old mother-in-law serving a daughter-in-law—will occur.