Shloka 12
चिरकारि-उपाख्यानम् / The Exemplum of Cirakārī: Deliberation Before Irreversible Action
ते चेन्मिथो<धृतिं कुर्युर्विनश्येयुरसंशयम् । न हर्तव्यं परधनमिति धर्म: सनातन:
te cen mitho dhṛtiṁ kuryur vinaśyeyur asaṁśayam | na hartavyaṁ paradhanam iti dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
Bhīṣma disse: “Se as pessoas fizessem entre si um pacto de obstinada resolução (de tomar e retaliar), sem dúvida pereceriam. Portanto, não se deve tomar a riqueza alheia—esta é a lei eterna do dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that taking another’s property is contrary to eternal dharma; when people harden into mutual, retaliatory resolve, society collapses into certain ruin.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous conduct and social ethics; here he warns against cycles of mutual obstinacy and affirms the perennial rule against appropriating others’ wealth.