Shloka 44
Adhyāya 166: Kṛtaghna-doṣa (कृतघ्नदोषः) — the fault of ingratitude and the limits of expiation
वर्षाणां हि शतं तावत् प्रतिष्ठा नाधिगच्छति । सहसंरं चैव वर्षाणां निपत्य नरकं वसेत्,सौ वर्षोतक तो उसे प्रेतकी भाँति भटकना पड़ता है, कहीं भी ठहरनेके लिये ठौर नहीं मिलता। फिर एक हजार वर्षोतक उसे नरकमें गिरकर रहना पड़ता है
varṣāṇāṃ hi śataṃ tāvat pratiṣṭhā nādhigacchati | sahasraṃ caiva varṣāṇāṃ nipatya narakaṃ vaset |
भीष्म उवाच—वर्षाणां हि शतं तावत् प्रतिष्ठां नाधिगच्छति। सहस्रं चैव वर्षाणां निपत्य नरकं वसेत्॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That severe adharma can lead to prolonged post-mortem consequences: first a long period of instability without any ‘support’ or settled state, and then extended residence in hell. The verse functions as a deterrent, urging adherence to dharma by highlighting the long arc of karmic retribution.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and its results. Here he describes the fate awaiting a wrongdoer: for a hundred years the person fails to obtain any stable ‘pratiṣṭhā’ (resting-place/standing), and thereafter falls into naraka to dwell there for a thousand years.