Shloka 6
Adhyāya 159 — Dāna–Dakṣiṇā, Āpaddharma Measures, and Prāyaścitta Classifications
अत्यागश्चातितर्षश्न विकर्मसु च या: क्रिया: । कुलविद्यामदश्नैव रूपैश्चर्यमदस्तथा,लोभसे ही कृपणता, अत्यन्त तृष्णा, शास्त्रविरुद्ध कर्मोंमें प्रवृत्ति, कुल और विद्याविषयक अभिमान, रूप और ऐश्वर्यका मद, समस्त प्राणियोंके प्रति द्रोह, सबका तिरस्कार, सबके प्रति अविश्वास तथा कुटिलतापूर्ण बर्ताव होते हैं
bhīṣma uvāca | atyāgaś cātitarṣaś ca vikarmasu ca yāḥ kriyāḥ | kulavidyā-madaś caiva rūpaiś carya-madas tathā |
Bhishma berkata: Dari loba timbul kikir dan dahaga yang berlebihan, serta kecenderungan melakukan perbuatan salah—tindakan yang bertentangan dengan śāstra. Dari sana pula muncul kesombongan atas keturunan dan ilmu, serta mabuk oleh rupa dan kemakmuran.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that miserliness and excessive craving generate a chain of moral decline: they push a person into śāstra-opposed actions and inflate ego (pride in lineage, learning, beauty, and prosperity), which then manifests as hostility, contempt, distrust, and deceit. The remedy implied is restraint, generosity, and humility to prevent adharma from taking root.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma after the war, Bhishma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira with ethical counsel. Here he lists inner vices and their outward social consequences, explaining how certain mental dispositions (greed and pride) lead to wrongful conduct and harm toward others.