Shloka 4
Tapas, Tīrtha, and Moral Rehabilitation (Śānti-parva 148)
शुभं कर्म परित्यज्य सो5हं शकुनिलुब्धक: । नृशंसस्य ममाद्यायं प्रत्यादेशो न संशय:
śubhaṃ karma parityajya so'haṃ śakunilubdhakaḥ | nṛśaṃsasya mamādyāyaṃ pratyādeśo na saṃśayaḥ ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Tinalikuran ko ang matuwid na asal, at ako’y naging tulad ng sugarol at manghuhuli ng ibon. Para sa isang malupit na gaya ko, walang alinlangan na ang araw na ito’y nagdadala ng nararapat na ganti—ang balik na tugon sa sarili kong mga gawa.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That abandoning virtuous action leads to moral downfall, and that suffering can be understood as the fitting return (pratyādeśa) of one’s own cruel deeds—an affirmation of ethical causality and accountability.
Bhīṣma, speaking in the Śānti Parva, reflects on his own conduct with harsh self-judgment, likening himself to a gambler and a hunter, and interprets his present condition as deserved recompense for cruelty.