Shloka 15
Brahmacarya-Upāya: Jñāna, Śauca, and the Mind’s Role in Desire (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय २०७)
तमुग्रमुग्रकर्माणमुग्रं कर्म समास्थितम् । ब्रह्मणोपचितिं कुर्वन् जघान पुरुषोत्तम:
tam ugram ugrakarmāṇam ugraṁ karma samāsthitam | brahmaṇopacitiṁ kurvan jaghāna puruṣottamaḥ ||
Bhishma berkata: “Makhluk itu ganas—berwatak buas dan tekun dalam perbuatan mengerikan—telah menetapkan diri pada tindakan yang menakutkan. Demi kesejahteraan dan perlindungan Brahmā, Sang Puruṣottama, Viṣṇu, membunuhnya.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Force becomes ethically meaningful when it is exercised without personal malice and for the protection of dharma—here framed as safeguarding Brahmā and the cosmic order—rather than for domination or revenge.
Bhīṣma describes a fierce, violence-prone being who had committed himself to a dreadful act; Puruṣottama (Viṣṇu) kills him specifically to secure Brahmā’s welfare, presenting the slaying as a protective, order-restoring intervention.