Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 226
Prajñā as Pratiṣṭhā — Indra–Kāśyapa Saṃvāda (Śānti-parva 12.173)
दस्यूनां दीयतामेष कृतघ्नोड्द्यैव राक्षसा: । यह सुनकर राक्षसराजने उन निशाचरोंसे कहा--'राक्षसो! ऐसा ही सही, इस कृतघ्नको आज ही डाकुओंके हवाले कर दो”
dasyūnāṃ dīyatām eṣa kṛtaghno ’dyaiva rākṣasāḥ |
भीष्मजी बोले—“राक्षसो! इस कृतघ्न को तुरंत दस्युओं के हवाले कर दो।” यह सुनकर राक्षसराज ने निशाचरों से कहा—“राक्षसो! ठीक है; आज ही इस कृतघ्न को डाकुओं के हाथ सौंप दो।”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse treats ingratitude (kṛtaghnatā) as a serious ethical failing. Forgetting or betraying received help is portrayed as socially corrosive and deserving of decisive censure and punishment.
Bhīṣma reports a command attributed to a Rākṣasa leader: the ‘ungrateful’ person is to be handed over immediately to bandits. The surrounding prose (as reflected in the provided Hindi) frames it as the Rākṣasa-king instructing his followers (niśācaras) to carry out this order.