Shloka 31
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
श्रद्दधान: शुभां विद्यां हीनादपि समाप्रुयात् । सुवर्णमपि चामेध्यादाददीताविचारयन्
śraddadhānaḥ śubhāṁ vidyāṁ hīnād api samāpnuyāt | suvarṇam api cāmedhyād ādadīta avicārayan |
ビーシュマは言った。「信を具える者は、たとえ身分の低い者からであっても、すぐれた学（ヴィディヤー）を敬って受け取り、修めるべきである。さらに、たとえ不浄の場所にあっても黄金を見いだしたなら、ためらわず拾い上げよ。智慧と徳の価値は、その本質の卓越にあり、授ける者の身分や周囲のありさまにはない。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True knowledge should be accepted wherever it is found. One should not reject good instruction because the teacher is socially ‘low’ or the context seems impure; value is determined by the quality of the teaching, just as gold remains valuable even if it lies in an unclean place.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he uses two analogies—learning from a low-born person and picking up gold from an impure place—to emphasize discernment and the primacy of virtue over external status.