Shloka 4
Tapas, Tīrtha, and Moral Rehabilitation (Śānti-parva 148)
शुभं कर्म परित्यज्य सो5हं शकुनिलुब्धक: । नृशंसस्य ममाद्यायं प्रत्यादेशो न संशय:
śubhaṃ karma parityajya so'haṃ śakunilubdhakaḥ | nṛśaṃsasya mamādyāyaṃ pratyādeśo na saṃśayaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «Habiendo abandonado la conducta justa, me he vuelto como un jugador y un cazador de aves. Para alguien tan cruel como yo, no hay duda de que hoy llega la retribución adecuada: la respuesta de retorno por mis propios actos».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That abandoning virtuous action leads to moral downfall, and that suffering can be understood as the fitting return (pratyādeśa) of one’s own cruel deeds—an affirmation of ethical causality and accountability.
Bhīṣma, speaking in the Śānti Parva, reflects on his own conduct with harsh self-judgment, likening himself to a gambler and a hunter, and interprets his present condition as deserved recompense for cruelty.