Shloka 30
Āśrama-dharma: Duties of the Four Life-Stages (आश्रमधर्मः)
संचयांश्व न कुर्वीत जातु शूद्र: कथंचन । पापीयान् हि धनं लब्ध्वा वशे कुर्याद गरीयस:,शूद्रको कभी किसी प्रकार भी धनका संग्रह नहीं करना चाहिये; क्योंकि धन पाकर वह महान् पापमें प्रवृत्त हो जाता है और अपनेसे श्रेष्ठठटम पुरुषोंको भी अपने अधीन रखने लगता है
sañcayānś ca na kurvīta jātu śūdraḥ kathaṃcana | pāpīyān hi dhanaṃ labdhvā vaśe kuryād garīyasaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “A Śūdra should never, in any manner, accumulate wealth; for, having obtained riches, he is said to become more inclined to wrongdoing and to seek to bring even those superior to him under his control.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a normative social-ethical claim: wealth and hoarding are portrayed as morally dangerous for a Śūdra, leading to increased wrongdoing and attempts to dominate social superiors; it thus frames restraint in accumulation as a safeguard for dharma and social hierarchy.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he gives a prescriptive rule within a broader discourse on varṇa-based duties and conduct, warning about the disruptive and corrupting potential of wealth when pursued outside the expected social role.