Shloka 19
धर्म्यविजय-नियमाः
Rules for Dharmic Victory in Kṣatriya Engagement
स वर्धमान: स्तेयेन पाप: पापे प्रसज्जति । न धर्मोडस्तीति मन्वान: शुचीनवहसन्निव
sa vardhamānaḥ steyena pāpaḥ pāpe prasajjati | na dharmo 'stīti manvānaḥ śucīn avahasann iva |
Bhīṣma dit : « L’homme pécheur qui grandit par le vol s’enchevêtre toujours davantage dans le péché. Persuadé qu’“il n’existe pas de dharma”, il se moque des purs et des vertueux. Sa foi en la droiture s’évanouit, et par le péché seul il s’avance vers la ruine—se croyant semblable aux dieux, au-delà de la décrépitude ; pourtant, à la fin, il est lié par les lacets de Varuṇa. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Prosperity gained through theft strengthens a person’s attachment to wrongdoing; denial of dharma leads to contempt for the virtuous and culminates in inevitable restraint and ruin—symbolized by being caught in Varuṇa’s pāśas (nooses).
In Bhīṣma’s instruction during the Śānti Parva, he describes the psychological and ethical downward spiral of a thief: success in stealing breeds further sin, erodes reverence for dharma, and ends in punishment and destruction.