Shloka 50
Kṣemadarśa–Kālakavṛkṣīya Saṃvāda: Counsel on Impermanence, Non-attachment, and Composure in Dispossession
न त्वेव जाल्मीं कापालीं वृत्तिमेषितुमरहसि । नृशंसवृत्तिं पापिष्ठां दुष्टां कापुरुषोचिताम्
na tveva jālmīṁ kāpālīṁ vṛttim eṣitum arhasi | nṛśaṁsavṛttiṁ pāpiṣṭhāṁ duṣṭāṁ kāpuruṣocitām ||
Bhishma dijo: Nunca debes desear adoptar el sustento artero de un mendicante que porta una calavera (kapālī), ni el modo de vida cruel, el más pecaminoso y corrompido, propio sólo de cobardes. Tal conducta engañosa es indigna de quien busca el dharma y un vivir honorable.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns against adopting livelihoods rooted in deception and cruelty—especially those that use the appearance of renunciation as a cover for immoral gain. Dharma requires integrity in one’s means of living; conduct that is sinful, corrupt, and cowardly is to be rejected.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma continues advising the listener (Yudhishthira) about proper conduct. Here he explicitly forbids pursuing a fraudulent, cruel mode of subsistence—illustrated by the image of a skull-bearing mendicant—framing it as unworthy and ethically degrading.