Shloka 17
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
निश्चितार्थाश्च ते सर्वे संत्यजन्त: स्वमात्मजम् । निराशा जीविते तस्य मार्गमावृत्य धिष्ठिता:
niścitārthāś ca te sarve saṃtyajantaḥ svam ātmajam | nirāśā jīvite tasya mārgam āvṛtya dhiṣṭhitāḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「彼らは皆、結末――その子が助からぬこと――を確信すると、その命への望みを失った。自らの子を見捨て、道を塞ぐように立ちはだかり、己の決めた行いに固く身を定めたのである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how certainty of loss can turn into despair that erodes compassion and duty. Ethically, it warns against letting hopelessness justify abandoning one’s responsibility toward the vulnerable, and shows how fear-driven resolve can lead to harmful collective action.
The people become convinced that a certain person (referred to as ‘he’) will not live. Losing hope, they abandon their own child and position themselves on the road, blocking it—standing firmly as if committed to a decisive, possibly harsh, course of action.