Shloka 28
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
क्षीणस्यार्थाभियुक्तस्य श्मशानाभिमुखस्य च । बान्धवा यत्र तिष्ठन्ति तत्रान्यो नाधितिषछ्तति
kṣīṇasyārthābhiyuktasya śmaśānābhimukhasya ca | bāndhavā yatra tiṣṭhanti tatrānyo nādhitiṣṭhati ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Kapag ang tao’y lupaypay na ang katawan, kapag nasasangkot sa paratang ukol sa salapi, at kapag patungo na sa pook ng pagsusunog ng bangkay (ibig sabihin, nasa gilid na ng kamatayan), tanging sariling mga kamag-anak ang nananatiling nakatindig sa kanyang tabi. Sa gayong sandali, walang tagalabas na tunay na maiiwan sa piling niya.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Support from the wider world is often contingent on advantage and circumstance; in severe crisis—illness, legal/financial accusation, and death—only close kin typically remain. The verse invites sober discernment about reliance, loyalty, and the duties of family.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and practical wisdom. Here he states a worldly observation: when someone is physically broken, embroiled in a monetary charge, or approaching death, companions fall away and only relatives tend to stand with him.