Shloka 22
Adhyāya 118: Saciva-parīkṣā
Testing and Appointment of Ministers/Servants
मया स्नेहपरीतेन विसृष्टो न कुलान्वय: । यस्मादेवमपापं मां पाप हिंसितुमिच्छसि । तस्मात् स्वयोनिमापत्न: श्वैव त्वं हि भविष्यसि
mayā snehaparītena visṛṣṭo na kulānvayaḥ | yasmād evam apāpaṁ māṁ pāpa hiṁsitum icchasi | tasmāt svayonim āpannaḥ śvaiva tvaṁ hi bhaviṣyasi ||
Bhishma said: “Though you were born in a low lineage, I did not cast you off, for I was moved by affection. Yet you—sinful as you are—seek to harm me who bears no malice toward you. Therefore, fallen back into your former womb, you shall indeed become a dog again.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Affection and protection offered even to the low-born does not justify betrayal; deliberate harm toward one who has shown goodwill is framed as grave adharma, inviting karmic retribution—here expressed as a return to a degraded birth.
Bhishma addresses an aggressor who, despite having been spared and supported out of affection, now attempts to kill him. Bhishma condemns the ingratitude and pronounces a punitive consequence: the attacker will revert to a former birth as a dog.