Shloka 22
आचारप्रशंसा
Praise of Ācāra as the Basis of Longevity, Fame, and Prosperity
यावन्तो रोमकूपाः स्युः स्त्रीणां गात्रेषु निर्मिता: । तावद् वर्षसहस्राणि नरकं पर्युपासते,स्त्रियोंके शरीरमें जितने रोमकूप होते हैं, उतने ही हजार वर्षोंतक व्यभिचारी पुरुषोंको नरकमें रहना पड़ता है
yāvanto romakūpāḥ syuḥ strīṇāṃ gātreṣu nirmitāḥ | tāvad varṣasahasrāṇi narakaṃ paryupāsate ||
ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു— സ്ത്രീകളുടെ അവയവങ്ങളിൽ എത്ര രോമകൂപങ്ങൾ നിർമ്മിതമായിട്ടുണ്ടോ, അത്ര ആയിരം വർഷങ്ങൾ വ്യഭിചാരികൾ നരകത്തിൽ വസിക്കേണ്ടിവരും.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sexual infidelity (vyabhicāra) is treated as a major breach of dharma, and the verse emphasizes its severe karmic consequence through a striking numerical metaphor: the punishment is unimaginably long, measured in thousands of years corresponding to the countless hair-follicles on a woman’s body.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he delivers a moral warning about the consequences of violating sexual fidelity, framing it within the broader didactic discourse on ethical restraint and social responsibility.