Shloka 11
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
यथा हिरण्यकर्ता वै रूप्यमग्नौ विशोधयेत् । बहुशो&तिप्रयत्नेन महता55त्मकृतेन ह
yathā hiraṇyakartā vai rūpyam agnau viśodhayet | bahuśo 'tiprayatnena mahatā ātmakṛtena ha |
ビーシュマは言った。「金細工師が、自らの大いなる努力によって銀を火に入れ、幾度も幾度も精錬して清めるように、生きとし生けるものもまた、心を清めるには往々にして幾百の生を要する。だが、祭祀（ヤジュニャ）や自己制御の修行—シャマとダマ（śama・dama）—によって大いなる精進をなすならば、一生のうちに清浄となる。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Purification is possible but typically gradual across many lives; however, intense, self-applied discipline—especially sacrificial duty and inner/outer restraint (śama and dama)—can accelerate moral and mental purification even within a single lifetime.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner cultivation, Bhīṣma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira using a craftsman’s analogy: as silver is refined by repeated heating, the mind is refined by sustained effort; rigorous practice can compress what would take many births into one.