Shloka 16
देवतापितृप्रश्नः — Nārada at Badarīāśrama: the ultimate referent of daiva and pitṛ worship
नास्तिकं भिन्नमर्यादें कूलपातमिव स्थितम् | वामत: कुरु विस्रब्धो नरं वेणुमिवोद्धृतम्,जो नास्तिक हो, धर्मकी मर्यादा भंग कर रहा हो और किनारेको तोड़- फोड़कर गिरा देनेवाले नदीके महान् जल-प्रवाहकी भाँति स्थित हो, ऐसे मनुष्यको उखाड़े हुए बाँसकी तरह बिना किसी हिचकके त्याग दो
nāstikaṁ bhinnamaryādaṁ kūlapātam iva sthitam | vāmataḥ kuru visrabdho naraṁ veṇum ivoddhṛtam ||
Vyāsa said: “Cast off without hesitation the unbeliever who has shattered the boundaries of dharma—like a violent river-current that breaks down the banks and causes collapse. Abandon such a man decisively, as one would discard a bamboo that has been uprooted.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should decisively dissociate from a person who denies dharma and actively undermines moral and social boundaries, because such a person is portrayed as destructive—like a flood that breaks riverbanks.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa delivers a moral injunction using two vivid similes (bank-breaking flood and uprooted bamboo) to urge firm rejection of a lawless nāstika who destabilizes dharmic order.