Shloka 7
Varṇa-lakṣaṇa and Ātma-saṃyama (Marks of Social Conduct and Self-Restraint) | वर्णलक्षणम् एवं आत्मसंयमः
पुलाका इव धान्येषु पुत्तिका इव पक्षिषु । तद्विधास्ते मनुष्याणां येषां धर्मो न कारणम्
pulākā iva dhānyeṣu puttikā iva pakṣiṣu | tadvidhās te manuṣyāṇāṃ yeṣāṃ dharmo na kāraṇam ||
ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦਾ ਮਕਸਦ ਧਰਮ ਨਹੀਂ, ਉਹ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਸਮਾਜ ਵਿੱਚ ਓਸੇ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਸਮਝੇ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਨ—ਜਿਵੇਂ ਅਨਾਜ ਵਿੱਚ ਖੋਖਲਾ, ਨਿਕੰਮਾ ਅੰਕੁਰ; ਅਤੇ ਪਰਾਂ ਵਾਲੇ ਜੀਵਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਜਿਵੇਂ ਮੱਛਰ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person’s worth in society is measured by whether dharma is their guiding purpose; without dharma as motive, one becomes socially and ethically insignificant, like a hollow stalk among grain or a gnat among winged beings.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma continues a moral discourse, using sharp similes to condemn those who live without dharma as their aim.