Shloka 49
भृगु–भरद्वाजसंवादः: वर्णभेदस्य कर्माधारितव्याख्या
Bhrigu–Bharadvaja Dialogue: A Karma-Based Account of Varṇa
नास्तिकः सर्वशड्की च मूर्ख: पण्डितमानिक: । तस्येयं फलनिर्वुत्ति: शृगालत्वं मम द्विज
nāstikaḥ sarvaśaṅkī ca mūrkhaḥ paṇḍitamānī ca | tasyeyaṃ phalanirvṛttiḥ śṛgālatvaṃ mama dvija ||
नास्तिकः सर्वशङ्की च मूर्खः पण्डितमानिकः । तस्येयं फलनिर्वृत्तिः शृगालत्वं मम द्विज ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Distrust, denial of moral truth, and arrogant pretence of learning are ethical faults that ripen into suffering; true wisdom requires humility and right conduct, not mere self-assertion.
Bhīṣma, speaking to a brāhmaṇa, confesses his former character—atheistic, suspicious, and vainly self-proclaimed learned—and explains that his present degraded condition (jackalhood) is the karmic result of those wrong actions.