Shloka 16
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
विनिश्चित्याथ च तदा विक्रोशन्तस्ततस्ततः । मृतमित्येव गच्छन्तो निराशास्तस्य दर्शने,वे इधर-उधर रो-गाकर इसी निश्चयपर पहुँचे कि अब तो यह बालक मर ही गया; अतः उसके दर्शनसे निराश हो वहाँसे जानेके लिये तैयार हो गये
viniścityātha ca tadā vikrośantastatastataḥ | mṛtamityeva gacchanto nirāśāstasya darśane ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Setelah membuat keputusan yang pasti, mereka terus meraung dari arah ke arah. Dengan keyakinan, ‘Dia benar-benar telah mati,’ mereka pun berangkat pergi, harapan untuk melihatnya lagi telah padam.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how grief and incomplete knowledge can harden into certainty (“he must be dead”), leading to despair and withdrawal—an ethical reminder to be cautious in judgment and steady in adversity.
A group searches and laments loudly in many directions; failing to find the boy, they conclude he has died and, losing hope of seeing him, prepare to depart.