Shloka 41
जनक–पराशर संवादः — वर्ण-गोत्र-धर्मविचारः
Janaka–Parāśara: Varṇa, Gotra, and Dharma Inquiry
प्रध्वस्ता न निवर्तन्ते प्रवृत्तिनोपलभ्यते । एवमेके व्यवस्यन्ति निवृत्तिरिति चापरे
pradhvastā na nivartante pravṛttir nopalabhyate | evam eke vyavasyanti nivṛttir iti cāpare ||
Apabila sifat-sifat (guṇa) telah dimusnahkan, ia tidak kembali, kerana dorongan operatifnya tidak lagi ditemui. Sebahagian pemikir memutuskan demikian. Namun yang lain berpendapat bahawa sifat-sifat yang telah lenyap itu pun boleh timbul semula.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a philosophical dispute about moral psychology: one view holds that once virtues/qualities are destroyed they do not reappear because the inner impulse (pravṛtti) that sustains them is absent; another view argues that even lost qualities can recur. Ethically, it highlights the stakes of preserving good dispositions and the question of whether moral recovery is possible.
In the Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and reflective ethics. Here he reports differing scholarly conclusions about the permanence or reversibility of destroyed qualities, framing a doctrinal debate rather than describing an external event.