Shloka 31
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
गतिं चाप्यशुभां ज्ञात्वा नूपते पापकर्मिणाम् | वैतरण्यां च यद् दुःखं पतितानां यमक्षये
gatiṁ cāpy aśubhāṁ jñātvā nṛpate pāpakarmiṇām | vaitaraṇyāṁ ca yad duḥkhaṁ patitānāṁ yamakṣaye pṛthvīnātha |
ビーシュマは言った。「王よ、罪業をなす者に待ち受ける不吉な行き先を悟り、またヤマの国に堕ちた者たちの受ける苦しみ—とりわけヴァイタラニー河の責め苦—を知ったなら、人は自らの行いに目を覚まし、慎み深くあるべきである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma urges the king to recognize that sinful actions lead to an inauspicious post-mortem fate, vividly symbolized by suffering in Yama’s realm and the Vaitaraṇī; awareness of consequences should motivate ethical self-restraint and dharmic conduct.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to the ruler, Bhishma continues a moral discourse: he points to the grim destiny of wrongdoers and invokes Yama’s domain and the Vaitaraṇī river as images of punitive suffering, strengthening his counsel on righteous governance and personal conduct.