Shloka 33
प्रजाविसर्ग-तत्त्वनिर्णयः | Cosmogony of Elemental Emergence
Bharadvāja–Bhṛgu Dialogue
पशुयज्ञै: कथं हिंसैमादृशो यट्टमरहति । अन्तवद्धिरिव प्राज्ञ: क्षेत्रयज्जै: पिशाचवत्
paśuyajñaiḥ kathaṃ hiṃsaiḥ mādṛśo yat tam arhati | antavaddhir iva prājñaḥ kṣetrayajñaiḥ piśācavat ||
Bhishma dit : «Comment un homme de discernement comme moi pourrait-il approuver ou accomplir des sacrifices d’animaux, liés à la violence et ne donnant que des fruits périssables ? Et comment un sage pourrait-il pratiquer ces rites ténébreux où, tel un goule, l’on offre sa propre chair et son propre sang en oblation ?»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma rejects rituals grounded in violence or dark, self-harming offerings, arguing that a truly wise person should not pursue sacrifices that produce only transient results and violate ethical restraint (especially ahiṃsā).
In his dharma-instruction during the Shanti Parva, Bhishma explains to his listener that certain sacrificial practices—animal-killing rites and tāmasika, ghoulish ‘body-offering’ rituals—are unfit for a discerning person, thereby steering the discussion toward purer, non-violent religious conduct.