Shloka 23
Akṣara–Kṣara Viveka: Vasiṣṭha–Karāla-Janaka Saṃvāda (अक्षर-क्षर विवेकः)
दमान्वित: पुरुषो धर्मशीलो भूतानि चात्मानमिवानुपश्येत् । गरीयस: पूजयेदात्मशकक््त्या सत्येन शीलेन सुखं नरेन्द्र
damānvitaḥ puruṣo dharmaśīlo bhūtāni cātmānam ivānupaśyet | garīyasaḥ pūjayed ātmaśaktyā satyena śīlena sukhaṃ narendra-rājan ||
Parāśara said: A person, endowed with self-restraint and established in dharma, should regard all living beings as he regards his own self. Those who are superior—by learning, austerity, age, or by the status of being like a guru—should be honored according to one’s capacity. O king, true happiness is gained through truthfulness and good conduct.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cultivate self-restraint and dharmic character, view all beings with the empathy of seeing them as oneself, honor those who are superior (by learning, austerity, age, or guru-status) within one’s means, and recognize that happiness rests on truthfulness and good conduct.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, the sage Parāśara addresses a king and delivers practical ethical guidance: inner discipline (dama), universal regard for beings, proper reverence to elders/teachers, and the foundations of happiness in satya (truth) and śīla (conduct).