Shloka 11
Gaṅgā-māhātmya: Siddha–Śilavṛtti-saṃvāda and Gaṅgā-stava (गङ्गामाहात्म्यं—सिद्ध-शिलवृत्ति-संवादः)
“जो पापपरायण मूढ़ मनुष्य ब्राह्मणोंको अकारण ही मर्मभेदी शोक प्रदान करता है, उसे ब्रह्मघाती जाने ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | yo pāpaparāyaṇaḥ mūḍhaḥ manuṣyo brāhmaṇān akāraṇam eva marmabhedīṃ śokaṃ pradadāti, taṃ brahmaghātī jānīyāt || cakṣuṣā viprahīṇasya paṅgulasya jaḍasya vā | haret yo vai sarvasvaṃ taṃ vidyād brahmaghātinam ||
Disse Bhīṣma: O homem iludido, inclinado ao pecado, que sem motivo inflige aos brāhmaṇas uma dor que fere o coração, deve ser tido como brahma-ghātin. Do mesmo modo, quem toma para si todo o sustento e os bens de um cego, de um coxo, ou de alguém indefeso e de entendimento embotado, também deve ser conhecido como brahma-ghātin.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Deliberately causing unjustified, deep suffering to Brahmins, and exploiting those who are physically or mentally helpless by taking their entire livelihood, are treated as among the gravest moral offenses—classified here as brahma-ghāta (a sin comparable in severity to brahmahatyā).
In Anushasana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma is laying down ethical standards for conduct: he condemns gratuitous cruelty toward the spiritually venerable and predatory theft from the defenseless, marking both as extreme adharma.