Shloka 38
पापात्म-धर्मात्म-लक्षणम् तथा निर्वेदेन मोक्षमार्गः | Marks of the Sinful and the Righteous; Dispassion (Nirveda) as a Path to Liberation
एवं स्त्री नापराध्नोति नर एवापराध्यति । व्युच्चरंश्ष महादोषं नर एवापराध्यति
evaṁ strī nāparādhnoti nara evāparādhyati | vyuccaran mahādoṣaṁ nara evāparādhyati ||
Bhīṣma dit : «En vérité, ce n’est pas la femme qui est en faute ici ; c’est l’homme qui commet l’offense. C’est l’homme qui encourt le grave péché de la transgression sexuelle ; ainsi, lui seul doit être tenu pour coupable.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral responsibility for sexual wrongdoing is placed primarily on the man; Bhīṣma frames culpability as belonging to the agent who initiates/commits the transgression, warning that the grave sin (mahādoṣa) is his.
In the Śānti Parva’s dharma-instruction setting, Bhīṣma is delivering ethical guidance to Yudhiṣṭhira; here he states a normative judgment about blame and culpability in cases of sexual misconduct, emphasizing male accountability.