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,जिनका उद्देश्य धर्म नहीं है, ऐसे मनुष्य मानव-समाजके भीतर वैसे ही समझे जाते हैं, जैसे धानमें थोथा पौधा और पंखवाले जीवोंमें मच्छर
pulākā iva dhānyeṣu puttikā iva pakṣiṣu | tadvidhās te manuṣyāṇāṃ yeṣāṃ dharmo na kāraṇam ||
Disse Bhishma: “Assim como um broto oco e sem valor entre os grãos, e como um mosquito entre as criaturas aladas, assim também são, na sociedade humana, aqueles cujo motivo não é o dharma.”
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.