Shloka 20
Mantri-Parīkṣā — Testing Ministers, Securing Counsel, and Ethical Criteria for Advisers (अध्याय ८४)
यौना: श्रौतास्तथा मौलास्तथैवाप्यनहंकृता: । कर्तव्या भूतिकामेन पुरुषेण बुभूषता
yaunāḥ śrautās tathā maulās tathaivāpy anahaṅkṛtāḥ | kartavyā bhūtikāmena puruṣeṇa bubhūṣatā ||
Bhīṣma said: One who seeks prosperity and wishes to sustain and advance his life should duly perform the customary rites of family and lineage, the Vedic (śrauta) rites, and the inherited domestic observances—doing all of them without ego or self-importance.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Prosperity and stability are to be pursued through disciplined performance of both Vedic (śrauta) and inherited family duties, but the decisive ethical condition is humility—doing them without ahaṅkāra (ego).
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma and right conduct; here he advises that a person aiming at welfare should maintain ritual and customary obligations—Vedic and familial—while remaining free from self-importance.