Shloka 22
अहिंसयित्वा ब्रह्महत्याविधानम् / Brahmahatyā incurred without physical violence
मेदानां पुल्कसानां च तथैवान्तेवसायिनाम् । कृतं कर्माकृतं वापि रागमोहेन जल्पताम्
medānāṁ pulkasānāṁ ca tathaivāntevāsayinām | kṛtaṁ karmākṛtaṁ vāpi rāgamohena jalpatām ||
Bhishma dit : «Ceux qui, vaincus par la passion et l’illusion, se vantent en public d’actions méritoires —qu’ils les aient accomplies ou non— doivent être tenus pour guère meilleurs que les Medas, les Pulindas/Pulkasas et les Antyajas (groupes dits hors caste). La leçon morale est que l’étalage de soi et les prétentions mensongères à la vertu abaissent l’homme, quel que soit son rang ou sa naissance.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Merit is diminished by vanity: proclaiming one’s good deeds (or falsely claiming them) out of attachment and delusion is ethically degrading. True dharma values sincerity, restraint in speech, and inner integrity over public self-advertisement.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhishthira on dharma and proper conduct. Here he censures those who, despite belonging to higher social ranks, become driven by rāga and moha and boast before people about virtuous acts done or not done, equating such conduct with socially condemned statuses to stress moral, not merely birth-based, evaluation.