Shloka 6
उपवासविधि-प्रश्नः
Inquiry into the Discipline of Fasting
ज्येष्ठ: कुलं वर्धयति विनाशयति वा पुन: । हन्ति सर्वमपि ज्येष्ठ: कुलं यत्रावजायते
Bhīṣma uvāca: jyeṣṭhaḥ kulaṃ vardhayati vināśayati vā punaḥ | hanti sarvam api jyeṣṭhaḥ kulaṃ yatrāvajāyate ||
Бхишма сказал: «Старший может либо возвысить род и дать ему процветание, либо вновь повергнуть его в гибель. Воистину, когда старший рождается с падшим и презренным нравом, он способен уничтожить весь род, в котором появился на свет».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The moral weight of the eldest is decisive: by good conduct he becomes the pillar of the lineage, but by corrupt conduct he can become the cause of its collapse. Seniority is presented as a position of heightened dharmic accountability.
In the Anushasana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira on social and familial ethics. Here he stresses how the character and choices of the family’s eldest strongly shape the fate of the entire kula.