Shloka 11
मोक्षधर्मः — स्नेहपाशच्छेदः
Mokṣa-dharma: Cutting the Bonds of Attachment
लाभं॑ साधारण नेच्छेन्न भुज्जीताभिपूजित: । अभिपूजितलाभ हि जुगुप्सेतेव तादूश:
lābhaṃ sādhāraṇaṃ necchen na bhuñjītābhipūjitaḥ | abhipūjita-lābhaṃ hi jugupsateva tādṛśaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: One should not hanker after ordinary gain, and one should not accept food where one is specially honored and worshiped. For a person of that kind—especially one seeking liberation—regards profit that comes through excessive honor as something to be shunned, almost as if it were impure. The ethical point is restraint: do not let livelihood or gifts become entangled with vanity, social flattery, or dependence that compromises inner freedom.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not desire even ordinary profit, and especially avoid benefits that come from being publicly honored; a sincere spiritual seeker should treat such honor-linked gain as something to be avoided because it can bind the mind through pride, obligation, and dependence.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he gives a rule of disciplined living—particularly relevant to renunciants or those pursuing liberation—about refusing food or gain that is tied to excessive reverence.