Shloka 226
Prajñā as Pratiṣṭhā — Indra–Kāśyapa Saṃvāda (Śānti-parva 12.173)
दस्यूनां दीयतामेष कृतघ्नोड्द्यैव राक्षसा: । यह सुनकर राक्षसराजने उन निशाचरोंसे कहा--'राक्षसो! ऐसा ही सही, इस कृतघ्नको आज ही डाकुओंके हवाले कर दो”
dasyūnāṃ dīyatām eṣa kṛtaghno ’dyaiva rākṣasāḥ |
भीष्म उवाच—‘राक्षसाः! एष कृतघ्नो दस्यूनां हस्ते शीघ्रं समर्प्यताम्।’ इति श्रुत्वा राक्षसराजो निशाचरान् अब्रवीत्—‘राक्षसाः! एवमेव; अद्यैव एनं कृतघ्नं दस्युभ्यः समर्पयत।’
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse treats ingratitude (kṛtaghnatā) as a serious ethical failing. Forgetting or betraying received help is portrayed as socially corrosive and deserving of decisive censure and punishment.
Bhīṣma reports a command attributed to a Rākṣasa leader: the ‘ungrateful’ person is to be handed over immediately to bandits. The surrounding prose (as reflected in the provided Hindi) frames it as the Rākṣasa-king instructing his followers (niśācaras) to carry out this order.