Shloka 4
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
दुःखिता: केचिदादाय बालमप्राप्तयौवनम् । कुलसर्वस्वभूतं वै रुदन््त: शोकविह्दला:
duḥkhitāḥ kecid ādāya bālam aprāptayauvanam | kulasarvasvabhūtaṃ vai rudantaḥ śokavihvalāḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「ある者たち—親族の幾人か—は悲嘆に沈み、死せる幼子を抱き上げた。まだ青春にも至らず、家のすべての宝と見なされていた子である。彼らは憂いに揺さぶられ、声をあげて泣き崩れた。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the intensity of human sorrow when death comes before life’s expected stages, especially when a child embodies a family’s hopes. It implicitly points to the ethical need for steadiness and compassion in the face of impermanence.
Bhishma describes a poignant scene: relatives lift and carry the dead body of a boy who had not yet reached youth, and they cry loudly, shaken and overwhelmed by grief, because he was considered the family’s greatest treasure.