Shloka 813
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
जीवतो ये न पश्यन्ति तेषां धर्मविपर्यय: । जो लोग जीवित माता-पिता, सुहृदों और भाई-बन्धुओंकी देखभाल नहीं करते हैं, उनके धर्मकी हानि होती है
jīvato ye na paśyanti teṣāṃ dharmaviparyayaḥ |
Jambuka dit : «Ceux qui, tandis que leurs aînés sont encore en vie, ne prennent pas soin d’eux—surtout de leur mère et de leur père, ainsi que de leurs bienveillants, de leurs frères et de leurs proches—subissent un renversement du dharma. Leur ordre moral s’effondre pour avoir négligé le devoir de soin le plus proche et le plus impérieux.»
जम्बुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Neglecting one’s living parents and close relations is presented as a direct inversion of dharma. The verse frames care for elders and dependents as a foundational ethical duty; abandoning it undermines one’s righteousness and social-moral stability.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Jambuka delivers a moral instruction: he condemns those who do not ‘see’—i.e., do not attend to and support—their living parents and close kin, declaring that such neglect results in dharma’s reversal for them.