Shloka 17
नष्टायां प्रतिपत्तो च मोहवश्या नरास्तदा । लोभस्य वशमापतन्ना: सर्वे भरतसत्तम
naṣṭāyāṁ pratipattau ca mohavaśyā narās tadā | lobhasya vaśam āpannāḥ sarve bharatasattama ||
Bhishma said: “When right understanding had been lost, men at that time became helpless under delusion; and all of them, O best of the Bharatas, fell under the sway of greed.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When discernment (pratipatti) is lost, delusion (moha) takes over, and greed (lobha) becomes the ruling force; ethical conduct collapses because inner clarity is the foundation of self-restraint.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war, explaining how societies and individuals fall into wrongdoing: first by losing right judgment, then by becoming deluded, and finally by being driven by greed.