Shloka 18
Rājā–Rāja-Śabda-Prabhavaḥ — The Origin and Rationale of Kingship and Daṇḍanīti
भरतभूषण! कर्तव्याकर्तव्यका ज्ञान नष्ट हो जानेपर मोहके वशीभूत हुए सब मनुष्य लोभके अधीन हो गये ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | bharatabhūṣaṇa! kartavyākartavyajñāne naṣṭe moha-vaśībhūtāḥ sarve manuṣyā lobha-vaśaṃ gatāḥ || aprāptasyābhimarśaṃ tu kurvanto manuṣyās tataḥ | kāmo nāmāparaḥ tatra pratyapadyata vai prabho ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “O palamuti ng angkan ng Bharata! Kapag naglaho ang pagkakilala sa dapat gawin at sa hindi dapat gawin, ang lahat ng tao na dinaig ng pagkalito ay napapasailalim sa kasakiman. Pagkaraan, sa paghahangad sa hindi pa nila nakakamit, nagsisimula silang magbalak at umabot upang angkinin iyon; at sa sandaling iyon, O panginoon, isa pang kapintasan—na tinatawag na kāma, ang pagnanasa—ang dumadapo at kumakapit sa kanila.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When moral discernment (knowing duty vs. forbidden action) collapses, delusion follows; delusion enables greed, and greed leads people to chase the unattained, whereupon desire (kāma) further entangles them. The verse maps a chain of ethical downfall and implies the need for vigilance and self-restraint.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira in the Śānti Parva, he explains how human beings slide into wrongdoing: first losing clarity about right and wrong, then becoming deluded and greedy, then actively grasping for what they do not have, and finally being seized by desire as an additional corrupting force.