Shloka 1
Adhyāya 272: Vṛtrasya Dharmiṣṭhatā, Indrasya Mohaḥ, Vasiṣṭha-upadeśaḥ
Vṛtra’s dharmic stature; Indra’s disorientation; Vasiṣṭha’s counsel
अपन हू< बक। है २ >> त्रिसप्तत्याधिकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: धर्म
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: kathaṃ bhavati pāpātmā kathaṃ dharmaṃ karoti vā | kena nirvedam ādatte mokṣaṃ vā kena gacchati ||
ユディシュティラは言った。「祖父よ、人はどのようにして心のうちに罪を宿す者となるのですか。いかにしてダルマを実践するようになるのですか。何によって離欲（不執着）を得、何によって解脱に至るのですか。」
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a fourfold ethical-spiritual inquiry: the origins of sinfulness, the conditions for practicing dharma, the arising of dispassion, and the means to liberation—setting up Bhīṣma’s instruction on moral causality and the path from worldly conduct to mokṣa.
In the Śānti Parva’s post-war instruction, Yudhiṣṭhira approaches the elder Bhīṣma as a moral authority and asks foundational questions about human downfall and uplift—how people fall into adharma and how they can turn toward dharma, renunciation, and liberation.