Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 22
Kīṭopākhyāna: Prajā-pālana as Kṣatra-vrata and the Attainment of Brāhmaṇya
नात्मनो<स्ति प्रियतर: पृथिवीमनुसृत्य ह । तस्मात् प्राणिषु सर्वेषु दयावानात्मवान् भवेत्
bhīṣma uvāca | nātmano 'sti priyataraḥ pṛthivīm anusṛtya ha | tasmāt prāṇiṣu sarveṣu dayāvān ātmavān bhavet ||
Wika ni Bhishma: Sa mundong ito, walang higit na mahal sa tao kaysa sa sarili. Kaya dapat maging mahabagin sa lahat ng nilalang, mamuhay nang may pagpipigil sa sarili, at ituring ang kapwa na parang sariling pagkatao.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Since everyone values their own self above all, one should extend that same concern to all beings—cultivating compassion (dayā) and self-mastery (ātmavat), treating others as oneself.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he grounds ethical conduct in a universal psychological truth—self-love—and derives from it the duty of compassion toward all living creatures.