Shloka 17
दैव–पुरुषकार-प्रश्नः
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Inquiry: Fate and Human Effort
नादातांर भजन्त्यर्था न क्लीबं नापि निष्क्रियम् नाकर्मशीलं नाशूरं तथा नैवातपस्विनम्
na adātāraṁ bhajanty arthā na klībaṁ nāpi niṣkriyam | na akarmaśīlaṁ nāśūraṁ tathā na eva atapaskinam ||
Bhīṣma dit : «La richesse ne vient pas à celui qui ne donne pas, ni à l’impuissant, ni à l’oisif. Elle ne sourit pas à celui qui, par habitude, néglige l’action, ni à l’homme sans vaillance ; de même, elle ne vient pas à celui qui est sans austérité (tapas).»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Prosperity is portrayed as aligning with virtues: generosity (dāna), energetic action, courage, and disciplined austerity (tapas). Those who are miserly, inactive, cowardly, or undisciplined should not expect wealth to ‘attach itself’ to them.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs on dharma and right conduct. Here he states a moral principle about the conditions under which wealth is attained and retained, using a list of disqualifying traits to emphasize ethical causality.