Shloka 6
उपवासविधि-प्रश्नः
Inquiry into the Discipline of Fasting
ज्येष्ठ: कुलं वर्धयति विनाशयति वा पुन: । हन्ति सर्वमपि ज्येष्ठ: कुलं यत्रावजायते
Bhīṣma uvāca: jyeṣṭhaḥ kulaṃ vardhayati vināśayati vā punaḥ | hanti sarvam api jyeṣṭhaḥ kulaṃ yatrāvajāyate ||
ビーシュマは言った。「長子は一族を栄えさせることも、滅びへ導くこともできる。まことに、長子の気質が堕落し卑しむべきものであれば、自ら生まれたその家系全体を滅ぼし尽くすことさえある。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The moral weight of the eldest is decisive: by good conduct he becomes the pillar of the lineage, but by corrupt conduct he can become the cause of its collapse. Seniority is presented as a position of heightened dharmic accountability.
In the Anushasana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira on social and familial ethics. Here he stresses how the character and choices of the family’s eldest strongly shape the fate of the entire kula.