Shloka 12

Devanagari script

आशायास्तनयो<धर्म: क्रोधो5सूयासुत: स्मृत: । लोभ: पुत्रो निकृत्यास्तु कृतघ्नो नाहति प्रजाम्‌,“आशाका पुत्र अधर्म है। असूयाका पुत्र क्रोध माना गया है। निकृति (शठता) का पुत्र लोभ है; परंतु कृतघ्न मनुष्य संतान पानेके योग्य नहीं है”

Transliteration

āśāyās tanayo 'dharmaḥ krodho 'sūyāsutaḥ smṛtaḥ | lobhaḥ putro nikṛtyās tu kṛtaghno nāhati prajām ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Từ hy vọng sinh ra phi pháp; giận dữ được nói là con của lòng ganh ghét; và tham lam là hậu duệ của sự gian trá. Nhưng kẻ vô ơn thì không sinh—hoặc không xứng đáng được sinh—con cháu.”

Word by Word

आशायाःof hope/desire

तनयःson

अधर्मःunrighteousness

क्रोधःanger

असूयाof envy/jealousy

सुतःson

स्मृतःis considered/remembered

लोभःgreed

पुत्रःson

निकृत्याःof deceit/crookedness

तुbut/indeed

कृतघ्नःan ungrateful person

नnot

आहतिstrikes/destroys

प्रजाम्offspring/progeny

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma presents a moral chain: unchecked expectation (āśā) breeds adharma; envy (asūyā) gives rise to anger; deceit (nikṛti) produces greed. He then singles out ingratitude (kṛtaghnatā) as especially destructive—so blameworthy that such a person is deemed unfit to sustain lineage or social trust.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous living after the war, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira through compact ethical aphorisms. Here he uses ‘parentage’ metaphors to explain how inner dispositions generate further faults and to warn against the social and spiritual consequences of ingratitude.