Shloka 112
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
प्रजानामपचारेण स्वस्ति ते5स्तु महासुर । यदा श्रश्रूं स््नुषा वृद्धां परिचारेण योक्ष्यते
prajānām apacāreṇa svasti te 'stu mahāsura | yadā śvaśrūṁ snuṣā vṛddhāṁ paricāreṇa yokṣyate ||
Do lỗi lầm đã gây đối với thần dân, cầu cho ngươi được an lành, hỡi đại asura. Rồi sẽ đến lúc một bà mẹ chồng già nua bị bắt phải hầu hạ nàng dâu bằng những việc hèn mọn.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns that wrongdoing toward one’s subjects (prajā) brings a reversal of order and dignity: unethical governance and abuse of dependents ripen into humiliating consequences, symbolized by elders being forced into servile roles.
In Bhishma’s discourse on dharma in the Shanti Parva, he addresses a powerful, unrighteous figure (“mahāsura”) and pronounces a pointed, ironic benediction tied to moral causality: because of offenses against the people, a future inversion within the household—an old mother-in-law serving a daughter-in-law—will occur.