Shloka 22
Chapter 78: Royal Responsibility for Wealth, Social Order, and the Protection of Dvijas
Kekaya Exemplum
मैं देवता, पितर तथा अतिथि आदिको उनका भाग अर्पण किये बिना कभी नहीं भोजन करता। परायी स्त्रीसे कभी सम्पर्क नहीं रखता तथा कभी स्वच्छन्द होकर क्रीडा नहीं करता तो भी तुमने मेरे शरीरमें कैसे प्रवेश किया? ।।
na brahmacārī bhikṣāvān bhikṣur vā u brahmacaryavān | anṛtvijā hutaṃ nāsti māmaka-antaram āviśaḥ ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Hindi ako kailanman kumakain nang hindi muna iniaalay ang nararapat na bahagi sa mga diyos, sa mga ninuno, at sa mga panauhin. Hindi ako nakikipag-ugnayan sa asawa ng iba, ni nagpapakalibang nang walang pagpipigil. Hindi ako isang brahmacārin na mag-aaral na nabubuhay sa limos, ni isang pulubing banal na umaasa sa abuloy, ni isa ring taong ang tanging pagkakakilanlan ay ang mahigpit na selibasiya; at wala ring handog na sakripisyong isinasagawa nang walang pari na ṛtvij. Kung gayon, paano ka nakapasok sa aking pinakaloob?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharma as disciplined living: honoring gods, ancestors, and guests before personal consumption, avoiding sexual misconduct, and restraining frivolity. It also invokes the Vedic norm that sacrifice is properly performed with an officiating priest, emphasizing order and legitimacy in ritual and conduct.
Bhishma, speaking in the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, asserts his regular observances and moral restraints and then questions how an intrusive influence could have entered him despite such disciplined practice—framing a reflective inquiry into inner vulnerability and the limits of external observance.