Shloka 106
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
भीष्म उवाच गृध्रो5स्तमित्याह गतो गतो नेति च जम्बुक: । मृतस्य तं परिजनमूचतुस्तौ क्षुधान्विती
bhīṣma uvāca gṛdhro 'stam ity āha gato gato neti ca jambukaḥ | mṛtasya taṃ parijanam ūcatus tau kṣudhānvitau ||
Sabi ni Bhishma: “Ipinahayag ng buwitre, ‘Tapos na siya (patay na).’ Ngunit ang asong-gubat ay paulit-ulit na nagsabi, ‘Nakaalis na, nakaalis na—hindi, hindi pa!’ Sa gayon nagsalita ang dalawang iyon, na itinutulak ng gutom, tungkol sa patay at sa kanyang mga kaanak—ipinapakita kung paanong binabaluktot ng pagnanasa ang salita at paghatol, maging sa mga usaping buhay, kamatayan, at tungkulin.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hunger and craving can bend perception and speech, leading beings to interpret even death and social bonds in self-serving ways; ethical clarity requires mastery over such impulses.
Bhishma reports a brief scene where a vulture and a jackal, both hungry, comment differently on someone’s death—one asserting it is over, the other repeatedly insisting ‘gone—no, not gone’—as they speak about the dead person and his family, highlighting appetite-driven distortion.