Shloka 17
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
अथैनं रूपमानश्न धनमानश्न् विन्दति । अभिजातोड<स्मि सिद्धो स्मि नास्मि केवलमानुष:
athainaṁ rūpamānaś ca dhanamānaś ca vindati | abhijāto ’smi siddho ’smi nāsmi kevalamānuṣaḥ ||
Alors l’orgueil de la beauté et l’ivresse de la richesse s’emparent de lui. Il se met à penser : « Je suis de haute naissance ; je suis accompli ; je ne suis pas un simple humain. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns that beauty and wealth can generate māna (conceit), leading a person to overestimate himself—claiming noble status and exceptional attainment—and to forget ordinary human limits. The ethical lesson is to guard against ego born of external advantages.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct and inner discipline, Bhishma describes a psychological sequence: once a person is overtaken by pride in appearance and riches, he begins to speak inwardly in grand claims—‘I am high-born, accomplished, not merely human’—showing the rise of arrogance that undermines dharma.