Shloka 74
Chapter 2: Sudarśana Upākhyāna — Atithi-Dharma and the Conquest of Mṛtyu
Gṛhastha-Vrata
नित्यमेव हि पश्यन्ति देहिनां देहसंश्रिता: । सुकृतं दुष्कृतं चापि कर्म धर्मभूतां वर
nityam eva hi paśyanti dehināṁ dehasaṁśritāḥ | sukṛtaṁ duṣkṛtaṁ cāpi karma dharmabhūtāṁ vara ||
“धर्मधारकांमध्ये श्रेष्ठा! देहधारींच्या देहात आश्रय घेतलेले हे साक्षी नित्य त्यांच्या कर्मांचे—पुण्य व पाप—दोन्हीचे दर्शन घेत असतात.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions are continuously witnessed from within embodied existence; both merit and sin are observed and thus carry inevitable ethical consequence. The verse underscores inbuilt accountability: one cannot truly hide one’s conduct, because the very conditions of embodied life function as constant testimony.
Bhishma is instructing a listener addressed as ‘best of the righteous’ about dharma and karma. He frames moral life as supervised by ever-present internal witnesses associated with the body, setting up a broader teaching on ethical conduct and responsibility.