Shloka 33
मातापितृगुरुपूजा-प्रशंसा
Praise of Venerating Mother, Father, and Teacher
मित्रद्रोही, कृतघ्न, स्त्रीहत्यारे और गुरुघाती--इन चारोंके पापका प्रायश्चित्त हमारे सुननेमें नहीं आया है ।।
Bhīṣma uvāca: mitradrohī kṛtaghnaḥ strīhantā guruhā ca—eteṣāṃ caturṇāṃ pāpānāṃ prāyaścittaṃ na śrutaṃ naḥ. etat sarvam anirdeśenaivam uktaṃ yat kartavyaṃ puruṣeṇeha loke; etac chreyo nānyad asmād viśiṣṭaṃ; sarvān dharmān anusṛtyaitad uktaṃ.
Bhishma dit : Pour quatre fautes des plus graves—trahir un ami, l’ingratitude, tuer une femme et mettre à mort son maître—nous n’avons jamais entendu parler d’aucune expiation. Ainsi, tout ce qu’un homme doit accomplir en ce monde a été énoncé en résumé, sans s’étendre outre mesure. Voici la voie du véritable bien ; il n’est pas de devoir plus élevé. En suivant l’ensemble du dharma, son essence a été proclamée ici.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma identifies four transgressions—betraying a friend, ingratitude, killing a woman, and killing one’s teacher—as so severe that no expiation is traditionally known for them, and he frames his preceding instruction as a distilled essence of dharma: the highest welfare lies in adhering to this summarized moral path.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhishthira, Bhishma continues his ethical discourse, emphasizing the gravity of certain crimes and concluding that the duties he has outlined are the essential, most beneficial guidance drawn from the broader body of dharma.