Shloka 9
Vyāghra–Gomāyu Saṃvāda (व्याघ्रगोमायु संवाद) — Testing Character Beneath Appearances
वसन् पितृवने रौद्रे शौचे वर्तितुमिच्छसि । इयं विप्रतिपत्तिस्ते यदा त्वं पिशिताशन:
vasan pitṛvane raudre śauce vartitum icchasi | iyaṁ vipratipattis te yadā tvaṁ piśitāśanaḥ ||
भीष्म ने कहा— “भाई सियार! तू पितरों के भयंकर श्मशान-वन में रहता है और फिर भी शुचिता से आचरण करना चाहता है। तू मांसाहारी है—इसलिए यह तेरा निश्चय परस्पर-विरुद्ध है।”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical demand for consistency between one’s nature/way of life and one’s claimed ideals: aspiring to purity while persisting in impure conduct is presented as a ‘vipratipatti’—a self-contradiction.
Bhishma addresses a flesh-eating being associated with a cremation-ground and points out the incongruity of its wish to live by pure conduct, framing the situation as a moral and practical inconsistency.