Shloka 30
Āśrama-dharma: Duties of the Four Life-Stages (आश्रमधर्मः)
संचयांश्व न कुर्वीत जातु शूद्र: कथंचन । पापीयान् हि धनं लब्ध्वा वशे कुर्याद गरीयस:
sañcayānś ca na kurvīta jātu śūdraḥ kathaṃcana | pāpīyān hi dhanaṃ labdhvā vaśe kuryād garīyasaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : « Un Śūdra ne doit jamais, d’aucune manière, amasser des richesses ; car, une fois l’opulence acquise, on dit qu’il s’incline davantage vers la faute et cherche à mettre sous sa coupe même ceux qui lui sont supérieurs. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a normative social-ethical claim: wealth and hoarding are portrayed as morally dangerous for a Śūdra, leading to increased wrongdoing and attempts to dominate social superiors; it thus frames restraint in accumulation as a safeguard for dharma and social hierarchy.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he gives a prescriptive rule within a broader discourse on varṇa-based duties and conduct, warning about the disruptive and corrupting potential of wealth when pursued outside the expected social role.