Shloka 36
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
पतितै: सम्प्रयोगाच्च ब्राह्णीयोनितस्तथा । अचिरेण महाराज पतितो वै भवत्युत,सुवर्णकी चोरी, अन्य वस्तुओंकी चोरी तथा ब्राह्मणका धन छीन लेना--यह महान् पाप है। महाराज! मदिरापान और अगम्या स्त्रीके साथ गमन करनेसे, पतितोंके साथ सम्पर्क रखनेसे तथा ब्राह्मणेतर होकर ब्राह्मणीके साथ समागम करनेसे स्वेच्छाचारी पुरुष शीघ्र ही पतित हो जाता है
patitaiḥ samprayogāc ca brāhmaṇī-yonitas tathā | acireṇa mahārāja patito vai bhavaty uta ||
Bhishma dijo: «Oh gran rey, por asociarse con los caídos, y asimismo por unirse sexualmente a una Brāhmaṇī estando fuera del orden de los brāhmaṇa, un hombre se vuelve pronto “caído”: aquel que se ha deslizado fuera de las normas del dharma».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that deliberate intimacy with morally fallen people and prohibited sexual conduct (especially crossing prescribed social-religious boundaries) quickly leads to one’s own fall from dharma—ethical decline is portrayed as contagious through company and action.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he lists behaviors that rapidly cause ‘patitatva’ (loss of moral/religious standing), emphasizing the consequences of corrupt association and transgressive sexuality.