Shloka 12
Nārada–Vāyu–Śalmali Upākhyāna: Enmity with the Strong and the Primacy of Buddhi (नारद-वायु-शल्मलि उपाख्यानम्)
ब्रह्ममृत्युरशुद्धात्मा पापमेवानुचिन्तयन् । प्रबुद्धासे प्रस्वपिषि वर्तसे परमे सुखे
brahmamṛtyur aśuddhātmā pāpam evānucintayan | prabuddhāse prasvapiṣi vartase parame sukhe ||
ನೀನು ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣನ ಮರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಣ; ನಿನ್ನ ಅಂತರಾತ್ಮ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಅಶುದ್ಧ. ನೀನು ಎಚ್ಚರದಲ್ಲೂ ನಿದ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲೂ ಪಾಪವನ್ನೇ ಚಿಂತಿಸುತ್ತಾ, ಅದನ್ನೇ ಪರಮ ಸುಖವೆಂದು ಭಾವಿಸುತ್ತೀಯೆ.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma condemns the mindset that normalizes wrongdoing: continual fixation on sinful thoughts corrupts the inner self, and moral delusion can make a person mistake vice and its pleasures for “supreme happiness.”
In Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhishma rebukes an addressed person for causing a Brahmin’s death and for living in constant sinful contemplation, describing how such a person remains the same in waking and sleeping states while falsely believing themselves happy.