Shloka 10
दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint
Dama
तस्मात् तदात्मकादू रागाद् बीजाज्जायन्ति जन्तव: । स्वदेहजानस्वसंज्ञान् यद्वदड़ात् कृरमीस्त्यजेत् । स्वसंज्ञानस्वकांस्तद्वत् सुतसंज्ञान् कृमीस्त्यजेत्
tasmāt tad-ātmakād rāgād bījāj jāyante jantavaḥ | sva-deha-jān sva-saṃjñān yadvad aṇḍāt kṛmīs tyajet | sva-saṃjñān svakāṃs tadvat suta-saṃjñān kṛmīs tyajet |
अतः स्त्री-सम्बन्धी उस आत्मतादात्म्ययुक्त अनुराग-रूपी बीज से जीव उत्पन्न होते हैं। जैसे मनुष्य अपनी ही देह से उत्पन्न जूँ-लीख आदि कीटों को, अपने ही चिह्न वाले होने पर भी, अपना न मानकर त्याग देता है—वैसे ही ‘पुत्र’ कहलाने वाले, अपने कहे जाने वाले कीटों को भी त्याग देना चाहिए।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma argues for radical detachment: beings arise from passion and seed, but the sense of ‘mine’ toward body-born products (and by extension toward ‘sons’) is delusive. One should relinquish possessiveness and see relations as not-Self, cultivating dispassion aimed at liberation.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma delivers a stark analogy: just as one discards worms arising from one’s own body without claiming them as oneself, so one should not cling to those merely labeled as one’s sons; the passage is a didactic push toward renunciation rather than a literal social directive.