Shloka 21
तीर्थवंशोपदेशः
Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters
ऋणकर्ता च यो राजन यश्न वार्धुषिको नर: । प्राणिविक्रयवृत्तिश्व राजन नाहन्ति केतनम्
ṛṇakartā ca yo rājan yaśn vārdhuṣiko naraḥ | prāṇivikrayavṛttiś ca rājan nāhanti ketanam ||
Bhīṣma said: “O King, a man who incurs debt, one who lives by usury, and one whose livelihood depends on selling living beings—such persons, O King, do not attain a good reputation (ketana), for these ways of life are ethically tainted.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma warns that certain livelihoods—habitual indebtedness, usury, and trading in living beings—corrode one’s moral standing and social honor; dharma includes earning in ways that do not exploit or degrade life.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues advising the king on righteous conduct, specifically evaluating occupations and economic practices by their ethical consequences and their effect on one’s reputation.