Shloka 47
मृत्यु-काल-प्रबोधनम् (Instruction on Mortality, Time, and Truth) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 169
पूर्वान् समर द्विज ज्ञातीन् प्रख्यातान् वेदपारगान् । तेषां वंशेडभिजातस्त्वमीदृश: कुलपांसन:
pūrvān samara dvija jñātīn prakhyātān vedapāragān | teṣāṁ vaṁśe 'bhijātas tvam īdṛśaḥ kulapāṁsanaḥ ||
Bhīṣma nói: “Hỡi Bà-la-môn, hãy nhớ đến tổ tiên ngươi—những thân tộc lừng danh, tinh thông Veda. Sinh trong dòng dõi ấy mà ngươi lại thành ra thế này: một nỗi nhục làm hoen ố danh dự gia tộc.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should uphold the standards of dharma and learning associated with one’s lineage; forgetting ancestral exemplars and acting ignobly brings moral shame and social dishonor.
Bhīṣma rebukes a brāhmaṇa, urging him to remember his celebrated, Veda-master ancestors and condemning him as a ‘family-disgrace’ for behaving contrary to that inherited ideal.