Shloka 4
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
दुःखिता: केचिदादाय बालमप्राप्तयौवनम् । कुलसर्वस्वभूतं वै रुदन््त: शोकविह्दला:
duḥkhitāḥ kecid ādāya bālam aprāptayauvanam | kulasarvasvabhūtaṃ vai rudantaḥ śokavihvalāḥ ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “May ilang kamag-anak, nilamon ng dalamhati, ang bumuhat sa patay na bata—na hindi pa man nakaaabot sa kabataan at itinuturing na kayamanan ng buong angkan—at, yumanig sa pighati, sila’y humagulhol at umiyak nang malakas.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the intensity of human sorrow when death comes before life’s expected stages, especially when a child embodies a family’s hopes. It implicitly points to the ethical need for steadiness and compassion in the face of impermanence.
Bhishma describes a poignant scene: relatives lift and carry the dead body of a boy who had not yet reached youth, and they cry loudly, shaken and overwhelmed by grief, because he was considered the family’s greatest treasure.