Shloka 15
त्रिवर्गविचारः
Tri-varga Deliberation: Dharma, Artha, Kāma
क्षमा धृतिरहिंसा च समता सत्यमार्जवम् | इन्द्रियाभिजयो दाक्ष्यं मार्दव॑ हवीरचापलम्
kṣamā dhṛtir ahiṃsā ca samatā satyam ārjavam | indriyābhijayo dākṣyaṃ mārdavaṃ hrīr acāpalam ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Ang pagpapatawad, katatagan, di-karahasan (ahiṃsā), pagkakapantay ng loob, katotohanan at pagiging tuwid; pagwawagi sa mga pandama, kahusayan, kahinahunan, kahinhinan, at pag-iwas sa kapritso—kapag ang mga birtud na ito’y sumibol at tumimo sa isang tao, iyon ang tinatawag na dama, ang pagpipigil sa sarili.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma defines dama (self-restraint) not as mere suppression but as the stable emergence of a cluster of virtues—patience, firmness, non-violence, equanimity, truth, straightforwardness, sensory mastery, competence, gentleness, modesty, and steadiness—showing that ethical character and inner discipline are inseparable.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma after the war, Bhīṣma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira about moral and spiritual discipline. Here he enumerates the qualities that constitute dama, presenting a practical ethical profile of a self-controlled person.