Shloka 25
ब्रह्मघ्ने च सुरापे च चौरे भग्नव्रते तथा । निष्कृतिर्विहिता राजन् कृतघ्ने नास्ति निष्कृति:
brahmaghne ca surāpe ca caure bhagnavrate tathā | niṣkṛtir vihitā rājan kṛtaghne nāsti niṣkṛtiḥ ||
بھیشم نے کہا— اے راجن! برہمن کے قاتل، شراب پینے والے، چور اور نذر و ورت توڑنے والے کے لیے شاستروں میں کفّارہ مقرر ہے؛ مگر کِرتَغْن (ناشکرے) کے لیے کوئی کفّارہ نہیں۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma ranks ingratitude as a uniquely grave moral failing: even for major transgressions śāstra prescribes expiations, but for kṛtaghna—one who is ungrateful and betrays benefactors—no purificatory remedy is acknowledged, underscoring gratitude as foundational to dharma.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to the king, Bhīṣma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and contrasts expiable sins (killing a Brāhmaṇa, drinking liquor, theft, breaking vows) with the ethical corruption of ingratitude, presenting it as beyond formal atonement.