Shloka 16
Kośa-saṃjanana and Subtle Dharma
Treasury Formation and Fine-Grained Ethics
अयुद्धयमानस्य वधो दारामर्ष: कृतघ्नता | ब्रह्मवित्तस्य चादानं नि:शेषकरणं तथा
ayuddhayamānasya vadho dārāmarṣaḥ kṛtaghnatā | brahmavittasya cādānaṃ niḥśeṣakaraṇaṃ tathā ||
ಯುದ್ಧ ಮಾಡದವನನ್ನು ಕೊಲ್ಲುವುದು, ಪರಸ್ತ್ರೀಯನ್ನು ಅವಮಾನಿಸುವುದು, ಕೃತಘ್ನತೆ, ಬ್ರಹ್ಮವಿತ್ತನ (ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣನ) ಧನವನ್ನು ಅಪಹರಿಸುವುದು, ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಯಾರದ್ದಾದರೂ ಸರ್ವಸ್ವವನ್ನು ಕಸಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು—ಇವು ದಸ್ಯುಗಳಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ನಿಂದಿತ ಕೃತ್ಯಗಳು.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma lists certain acts—killing a non-combatant, violating another’s wife, ingratitude, seizing a holy/learned person’s wealth, and stripping someone of all possessions—as gravely adharmic, so blameworthy that even criminals condemn them; the teaching is to renounce such conduct as fundamentally unrighteous.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma after the war, Bhīṣma advises Yudhiṣṭhira by enumerating behaviors that must be avoided; here he emphasizes moral limits that apply even in contexts of conflict and power.