Shloka 16
कुण्डधारोपाख्यानम्
Kuṇḍadhāra-Upākhyāna: Dharma’s Superiority over Wealth and Desire
ज्यायसी या पवित्राणां निवृत्ति: श्रद्धया सह । निवृत्तशीलदोषो य: श्रद्धावान् पूत एव सः
jyāyasī yā pavitrāṇāṁ nivṛttiḥ śraddhayā saha | nivṛttaśīladoṣo yaḥ śraddhāvān pūta eva saḥ ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «Más excelente que todas las purificaciones rituales es apartarse del pecado junto con śraddhā. El hombre cuyos defectos de conducta han sido removidos—el que está dotado de fe—es, en verdad, siempre puro».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True purity is primarily ethical: abandoning sinful behavior with sincere faith surpasses external or ritual forms of purification; reformed conduct makes a person genuinely pure.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira that inner moral transformation—ending faults of conduct—matters more than outward purificatory practices.