Shloka 106
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
भीष्म उवाच गृध्रो5स्तमित्याह गतो गतो नेति च जम्बुक: । मृतस्य तं परिजनमूचतुस्तौ क्षुधान्विती
bhīṣma uvāca gṛdhro 'stam ity āha gato gato neti ca jambukaḥ | mṛtasya taṃ parijanam ūcatus tau kṣudhānvitau ||
ビーシュマは言った。「禿鷲は『彼は終わった（死んだ）』と断じた。だがジャッカルは『行った、行った――いや、行っていない！』と言い張り続けた。かくして飢えに駆られたその二匹は、死者とその縁者について語り合い、欲望が言葉と判断をいかに歪めるかを、生死と義務の事においてさえ示したのである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hunger and craving can bend perception and speech, leading beings to interpret even death and social bonds in self-serving ways; ethical clarity requires mastery over such impulses.
Bhishma reports a brief scene where a vulture and a jackal, both hungry, comment differently on someone’s death—one asserting it is over, the other repeatedly insisting ‘gone—no, not gone’—as they speak about the dead person and his family, highlighting appetite-driven distortion.