Shloka 55
नमां मनुष्या: पश्यन्ति न मां पश्यन्ति देवता: । पापेनापिहित: पाप: पापमेवाभिजायते
na māṁ manuṣyāḥ paśyanti na māṁ paśyanti devatāḥ | pāpenāpihitaḥ pāpaḥ pāpam evābhijāyate ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: «Ningún ser humano me ve, ni los dioses me ven». Pensando así, el pecador, velado por el pecado, vuelve a pecar una y otra vez, y nace sólo en vientres de pecado—nacimientos bajos y dañinos.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The belief that wrongdoing is unseen (“no humans or gods are watching”) is itself a sinful delusion that fuels repeated sin; such actions generate karmic consequences, including rebirth in degraded or harmful conditions (pāpa-yoni).
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs on dharma and conduct. Here he describes the inner rationalization of a wrongdoer who imagines secrecy, and he states the resulting moral and karmic downward spiral.