Shloka 3
अध्याय ५७ — राज्ञः नित्यप्रयत्नः, रक्षा-प्रधानता, तथा त्याग-नीतिः
Chapter 57: Constant Royal Vigilance, Primacy of Protection, and Principles of Dismissal
द्वाविमौ ग्रसते भूमि: सर्पो बिलशयानिव । राजानं चाविरोद्धारं ब्राह्मणं चाप्रवासिनम्
dvāv imau grasate bhūmiḥ sarpo bilaśayān iva | rājānaṃ cāviruddhāraṃ brāhmaṇaṃ cāpravāsinam ||
Bhishma dit : «La terre engloutit ces deux-là, comme un serpent engloutit les créatures qui vivent dans les trous : le roi qui ne s’oppose pas à l’agresseur, et le brahmane qui ne quitte pas sa demeure pour l’étude supérieure et la discipline. De tels hommes, faute d’effort dans leurs devoirs propres, périssent sans obtenir les moyens de l’accomplissement humain.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns that neglect of one’s svadharma leads to ruin: a king must actively restrain and oppose wrongdoing, and a Brahmin must pursue disciplined learning and spiritual practice, even if it requires leaving home. Without such purposeful effort, life is ‘swallowed by the earth’—ending without meaningful attainment.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma addresses Yudhishthira and uses a vivid simile: as a snake consumes burrow-dwelling creatures, so the earth consumes (i.e., time and mortality overtake) two negligent types—an unresisting king and a Brahmin who does not undertake the outward discipline of study and practice.