Shloka 120
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
बभूवुर्भरतश्रेष्ठ प्रसादाच्छड्करस्य वै | ततस्ते त्वरिता राजंस्त्यक्त्वा शोकं शिशूद्धवम्
babhūvur bharataśreṣṭha prasādāc chaṅkarasya vai | tatas te tvaritā rājan tyaktvā śokaṃ śiśūddhavam ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Ô le meilleur des Bhārata, c’est par la grâce de Śaṅkara que cela advint. Alors, ô roi, ils rejetèrent promptement leur chagrin—ce chagrin soulevé à cause de l’enfant—et retrouvèrent leur calme».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the power of divine grace (prasāda) to transform circumstances and to help people relinquish overwhelming sorrow. Ethically, it points toward steadiness of mind—grief may arise naturally, but one should not remain bound by it when clarity and higher support (spiritual or moral) becomes available.
Bhīṣma, instructing the king, notes that events turned favorably through Śaṅkara’s grace. As a result, those affected quickly abandoned the grief that had arisen in connection with a child, returning from agitation to composure.