Shloka 106
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
भीष्म उवाच गृध्रो5स्तमित्याह गतो गतो नेति च जम्बुक: । मृतस्य तं परिजनमूचतुस्तौ क्षुधान्विती
bhīṣma uvāca gṛdhro 'stam ity āha gato gato neti ca jambukaḥ | mṛtasya taṃ parijanam ūcatus tau kṣudhānvitau ||
Dijo Bhishma: «El buitre declaró: “Está acabado (muerto)”. El chacal, en cambio, no dejaba de decir: “Se ha ido, se ha ido—¡no, no se ha ido!” Así hablaron aquellos dos, impulsados por el hambre, acerca del muerto y de sus parientes, mostrando cómo el ansia tuerce la palabra y el juicio incluso en asuntos de vida, muerte y deber.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hunger and craving can bend perception and speech, leading beings to interpret even death and social bonds in self-serving ways; ethical clarity requires mastery over such impulses.
Bhishma reports a brief scene where a vulture and a jackal, both hungry, comment differently on someone’s death—one asserting it is over, the other repeatedly insisting ‘gone—no, not gone’—as they speak about the dead person and his family, highlighting appetite-driven distortion.