Shloka 22
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
प्लवन्ते धर्मलघवो लोके5म्भसि यथा प्लवा: | मज्जन्ति पापगुरव: शस्त्र स्कन्नमिवोदके
plavante dharma-laghavo loke 'mbhasi yathā plavāḥ | majjanti pāpa-guravaḥ śastra-skannam ivodake ||
Bhīṣma berkata, “Di dunia ini, mereka yang tetap ringan karena dharma—tidak memanggul beban dosa yang berat—mengapung menyeberangi samudra kehidupan laksana perahu di atas air. Tetapi mereka yang berat oleh dosa tenggelam, seperti senjata yang dilemparkan ke air, jatuh ke lautan neraka.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma functions like buoyancy: ethical living keeps a person ‘light’ and able to cross saṃsāra, while sin becomes a heavy load that causes one to sink into suffering (symbolized as a hellish sea).
In the opening of the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous conduct. Here he uses a vivid simile—boats floating and weapons sinking—to impress the moral consequence of dharma versus pāpa.