Shloka 20
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
यूयं भूमौ विनिक्षिप्य पुत्रस्नेहविनाकृता: । श्मशाने सुतमुत्सूज्य कस्माद् गच्छत निर्घणा:
yūyaṃ bhūmau vinikṣipya putrasnehavinākṛtāḥ | śmaśāne sutam utsṛjya kasmād gacchata nirghṛṇāḥ ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Paano kayo naging gayon kalupit? Itinakwil ninyo ang pagmamahal sa anak at dinala ang munting sanggol na ito upang ihiga sa lupa ng pook ng pagsusunog ng bangkay. Bakit ninyo iniiwan ang sarili ninyong anak sa ganitong pook ng kamatayan at lumalakad palayo?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse censures hardness of heart: abandoning natural compassion—especially parental affection—and leaving a child in a cremation ground is portrayed as adharma. It highlights karuṇā (compassion) and responsibility toward dependents as ethical imperatives.
Bhīṣma addresses a group who have brought a child to the cremation ground and left him there. He rebukes them as “nirghṛṇa” (merciless) and questions their motive for abandoning the boy in such a place.