Shloka 20
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
यूयं भूमौ विनिक्षिप्य पुत्रस्नेहविनाकृता: । श्मशाने सुतमुत्सूज्य कस्माद् गच्छत निर्घणा:,“तुम लोग कैसे निर्दयी हो? पुत्रस्नेहका त्याग करके इस नन्हेसे बालकको श्मशान- भूमिमें लाकर डाल दिया। अरे! अपने बेटेको इस मरघटमें छोड़कर क्यों जा रहे हो?
yūyaṃ bhūmau vinikṣipya putrasnehavinākṛtāḥ | śmaśāne sutam utsṛjya kasmād gacchata nirghṛṇāḥ ||
Dijo Bhishma: «¿Cómo podéis ser tan despiadados? Despojándoos del amor de padre, habéis traído a este tierno niño y lo habéis tendido en el suelo del crematorio. ¿Por qué dejáis a vuestro propio hijo en este campo de muerte y os marcháis?»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse censures hardness of heart: abandoning natural compassion—especially parental affection—and leaving a child in a cremation ground is portrayed as adharma. It highlights karuṇā (compassion) and responsibility toward dependents as ethical imperatives.
Bhīṣma addresses a group who have brought a child to the cremation ground and left him there. He rebukes them as “nirghṛṇa” (merciless) and questions their motive for abandoning the boy in such a place.