Shloka 11
Chatra–Upānah Dāna: Origin Narrative
Jamadagni–Reṇukā–Sūrya Saṃvāda
पुरा वेदान् ब्राह्मुणा ग्राममध्ये घुष्टस्वरा वृषलान् श्रावयन्ति | पुरा राजा व्यवहारेण धर्मान् पश्यत्यहं परलोक॑ व्रजामि
bhīṣma uvāca | purā vedān brāhmaṇā grāmamadhye ghuṣṭasvarā vṛṣalān śrāvayanti | purā rājā vyavahāreṇa dharmān paśyaty ahaṃ paralokaṃ vrajāmi |
Bhishma disse: “Que eu possa partir para o outro mundo antes que chegue tal tempo—quando os brâmanes, erguendo a voz no meio da aldeia, recitem os Vedas para que sejam ouvidos pelos śūdras, e quando o rei passe a julgar o dharma apenas pela lente dos negócios mundanos e dos litígios. Antes que essas distorções da ordem sagrada e do dever régio se firmem, que eu vá para o além.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns against two signs of dharmic deterioration: (1) sacred learning being handled in a way he views as improper for its traditional transmission, and (2) a king reducing dharma to mere ‘vyavahāra’—pragmatic business or courtroom procedure—rather than upholding deeper moral and spiritual justice. The verse frames these as markers of a world he would rather leave than witness.
Bhishma, speaking in the Anushasana Parva while instructing on dharma, expresses a grim forecast: if Brahmins publicly proclaim Vedic recitation in the village to be heard by those deemed unqualified (here termed vṛṣalas/śūdras), and if the king starts ‘seeing’ dharma only through transactional or legalistic considerations, then Bhishma says he would prefer to depart to the afterlife before such a time.