Shloka 26

Devanagari script

धर्मादुत्कृष्यते श्रेयस्तथाश्रेयोडप्यधर्मत: । रागवान्‌ प्रकृतिं होति विरक्तो ज्ञानवान्‌ भवेत्‌,धर्म करनेसे श्रेयकी वृद्धि होती है और अधर्म करनेसे मनुष्यका अकल्याण होता है। विषयासक्त पुरुष प्रकृतिको प्राप्त होता है और विरक्त आत्मज्ञान प्राप्त करके मुक्त हो जाता है

Transliteration

dharmād utkr̥ṣyate śreyas tathāśreyo 'py adharmataḥ | rāgavān prakr̥tiṁ hoti virakto jñānavān bhavet ||

Translation

भीष्म उवाच—धर्मादुत्कृष्यते श्रेयस्तथाश्रेयः अप्यधर्मतः। रागवान् प्रकृतिं याति विरक्तो ज्ञानवान् भवेत्॥

Word by Word

धर्मात्from dharma

उत्कृष्यतेis increased / is exalted

श्रेयःwelfare, the good

तथाlikewise

अश्रेयःharm, the not-good

अपिalso, even

अधर्मतःfrom adharma

रागवान्passionate, attached

प्रकृतिम्nature (prakṛti)

होतिbecomes

विरक्तःdetached

ज्ञानवान्possessed of knowledge

भवेत्would become / becomes (potentially)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma increases śreyas (the higher good), while adharma produces aśreyas (harm). Attachment (rāga) binds one to prakṛti and its compulsions; detachment (virāga) supports true knowledge (jñāna), which leads toward freedom.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on right conduct and inner discipline after the war. Here he contrasts the outcomes of dharma versus adharma and links ethical life with the psychological-spiritual shift from attachment to knowledge and liberation.