Indra–Mataṅga Saṃvāda: On the rarity and responsibilities of Brāhmaṇya (इन्द्र-मतङ्ग संवादः)
अयं तु पापप्रकृतिर्बाले न कुरुते दयाम् | स्वयोनिं मानयत्येष भावो भावं नियच्छति
ayaṁ tu pāpaprakṛtir bāle na kurute dayām | svayoniṁ mānayaty eṣa bhāvo bhāvaṁ niyacchati ||
ビーシュマは言った。「こやつは生まれつき罪深い性質の者ゆえ、幼子に対しても憐れみを示さぬ。そのような悪行によって、ただ自らのチャンダーラ(賤民)としての出生の評判を高めるのみだ。まことに、生得の性が心のはたらきを支配する。」
भीष्म उवाच
Bhishma emphasizes that a person’s ingrained disposition (bhāva/prakṛti) strongly shapes and governs mental impulses and ethical behavior; lack of compassion reveals a corrupt nature and leads to further moral degradation.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he comments on a cruel individual who shows no mercy to a child, interpreting this act as evidence of a sinful temperament and as conduct that reinforces the person’s degraded social identity.