Shloka 26
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
“यद्यपि उनके बच्चे बड़े हो जानेपर अपने माँ-बापका पालन-पोषण नहीं करते हैं तो भी अपने प्यारे बच्चोंको न देखनेपर उनका शोक काबूमें नहीं रहता ।।
yady api te bālā bṛddhībhūya mātā-pitarau na paripālayanti, tathāpi priyabālān adṛṣṭvā teṣāṃ śoko na vaśaṃ gacchati. mānuṣāṇāṃ kutaḥ sneho yeṣāṃ śoko bhaviṣyati? imaṃ kulakaraṃ putraṃ tyaktvā kva nu gamiṣyatha?
Wika ni Bhishma: “Kahit lumaki ang mga anak at hindi nila sinusuportahan ang kanilang ina at ama, kapag hindi nakikita ang minamahal na mga anak, hindi mapipigil ang dalamhati ng mga magulang. Saan sa mga tao matatagpuan ang gayong pagmamahal na magdadala sa kanila sa pagdadalamhati para sa anak? Ang batang ito ang tagapagpatuloy ng inyong angkan; iiwan ninyo ang anak na ito—saan kayo tutungo?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the powerful, often involuntary nature of parental attachment: even when children fail in their duty to support parents, parents still grieve when separated from them. He uses this to stress the moral weight of family bonds and the significance of preserving and caring for one’s lineage-bearer (kulakara).
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he appeals to the listeners’ sense of familial responsibility and natural affection, pointing to a child as the continuer of the family line and questioning how one could abandon such a son and depart.