Shloka 30
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
न मातृपितृशुश्रूषा न च दैवतपूजनम् । नान्यो गुणसमाचार: पुरुषस्य सुखावह:,माता-पिताकी सेवा, देवताओंकी पूजा तथा अन्य सदगुणयुक्त सदाचार भी बुरे दिनोंमें किसी पुरुषके लिये सुखदायक नहीं होता है
na mātṛpitṛśuśrūṣā na ca daivatapūjanam | nānyo guṇasamācāraḥ puruṣasya sukhāvahaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «Ni el servicio devoto a la madre y al padre, ni el culto a los dioses, ni ninguna otra conducta fundada en buenas cualidades se vuelve necesariamente consuelo para un hombre cuando descienden los tiempos adversos.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that even exemplary duties—serving parents, worshipping the gods, and living virtuously—may not guarantee immediate comfort during misfortune. It highlights the gap between moral worth and worldly outcomes, urging steadiness in dharma without treating virtue as a sure bargain for happiness.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhīṣma continues advising on dharma and the realities of human life. Here he emphasizes to the listener that calamity can overwhelm ordinary expectations of reward, framing ethical life as intrinsically right rather than merely instrumentally profitable.