Shloka 12
न स्त्रीभ्य: किज्चिदन्यद् वै पापीयस्तरमस्ति वै | स्त्रियो हि मूलं दोषाणां तथा त्वमपि वेत्थ ह
na strībhyāḥ kiñcid anyad vai pāpīyastaram asti vai | striyo hi mūlaṃ doṣāṇāṃ tathā tvam api vettha ha ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «No hay nada más pecaminoso que las mujeres. Las mujeres son, en verdad, la raíz de las faltas; esto también tú lo sabes bien.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a strongly condemnatory generalization about women as the source of moral faults. In the Anuśāsana Parva’s didactic setting, it functions as a harsh moral claim attributed to Bhīṣma, reflecting a strand of prescriptive discourse rather than a balanced, universal ethic.
Bhīṣma is delivering instruction (anuśāsana) and, in this line, makes an emphatic statement to his listener that women are supremely sinful and the root of faults, asserting that the listener already knows this.