Shloka 48
आचारप्रशंसा
Praise of Ācāra as the Basis of Longevity, Fame, and Prosperity
(दारसंग्रहणात् पूर्व नाचरेन्मैथुनं बुध: । अन्यथा त्ववकीर्ण: स्यात् प्रायश्षित्तं समाचरेत् ।।
bhīṣma uvāca |
dārasaṅgrahaṇāt pūrvaṁ nācaren maithunaṁ budhaḥ |
anyathā tv avakīrṇaḥ syāt prāyaścittaṁ samācaret ||
na udīkṣeta paradārānś ca rahasya ekāsano bhavet |
indriyāṇi sadā yacchet svapne śuddhamanā bhavet ||
udakśirā na svapeta tathā pratyakśirā na ca |
prākśirās tu svaped vidvān athavā dakṣiṇāśirāḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「妻を迎える以前、賢者は交合に及んではならぬ。もし犯せば、梵行の誓いを破り“漏らした者”と見なされ、しかるべき贖罪（プラーヤシュチッタ）を行うべきである。他人の妻を見つめてはならず、また人目を避けた場所で同じ座に並んで坐ってもならぬ。常に諸根を制し、夢のうちにさえ心を清らかに保て。北枕にも西枕にもしてはならず、学ある者は東枕か南枕にて眠るべし。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma lays down a discipline of continence and sensory restraint before marriage, strict avoidance of another man’s wife in gaze and private proximity, purity of mind even in dreams, and a traditional rule about sleeping orientation (east or south) as part of regulated dharmic living.
Within Bhishma’s extended instruction on dharma in the Anushasana Parva, he gives prescriptive rules for personal conduct—especially sexual restraint and social boundaries—framing violations as ritual-ethical faults requiring prāyaścitta (expiation).