Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 22
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
प्लवन्ते धर्मलघवो लोके5म्भसि यथा प्लवा: | मज्जन्ति पापगुरव: शस्त्र स्कन्नमिवोदके
plavante dharma-laghavo loke 'mbhasi yathā plavāḥ | majjanti pāpa-guravaḥ śastra-skannam ivodake ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Sa daigdig na ito, yaong mga pinananatiling magaan ang sarili sa pamamagitan ng dharma—sa hindi pagpapasan ng mabigat na bigat ng kasalanan—ay lumulutang at nakakatawid sa karagatan ng pag-iral na makamundo na parang bangka sa tubig. Ngunit yaong pinabibigat ng kasalanan ay lumulubog, gaya ng sandatang inihagis sa tubig, at bumabagsak sa dagat ng impiyerno.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma functions like buoyancy: ethical living keeps a person ‘light’ and able to cross saṃsāra, while sin becomes a heavy load that causes one to sink into suffering (symbolized as a hellish sea).
In the opening of the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous conduct. Here he uses a vivid simile—boats floating and weapons sinking—to impress the moral consequence of dharma versus pāpa.