Shloka 88
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
ते सहाया भविष्यन्ति सुरकार्ये मम द्विज । ततो रक्ष:पतिं घोरं पुलस्त्यकुलपांसनम्
te sahāyā bhaviṣyanti surakārye mama dvija | tato rakṣaḥpatiṃ ghoraṃ pulastyakulapāṃsanam ||
Ô brāhmane, ils deviendront mes alliés dans l’œuvre des dieux. Ensuite, j’affronterai l’effroyable seigneur des Rākṣasas — honte de la lignée de Pulastya.
(भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Aid given to righteous, cosmic purposes (surakārya) is presented as worthy and dharmic, while a powerful wrongdoer is morally judged not by strength but by conduct—hence being called a “disgrace” to an ancestral line.
Bhīṣma addresses a brāhmaṇa and states that certain beings will become his allies in carrying out a divine task; then he declares his intention to face a fearsome lord of the Rākṣasas, denouncing him as a blot on Pulastya’s lineage.