Shloka 6
उपवासविधि-प्रश्नः
Inquiry into the Discipline of Fasting
ज्येष्ठ: कुलं वर्धयति विनाशयति वा पुन: । हन्ति सर्वमपि ज्येष्ठ: कुलं यत्रावजायते
Bhīṣma uvāca: jyeṣṭhaḥ kulaṃ vardhayati vināśayati vā punaḥ | hanti sarvam api jyeṣṭhaḥ kulaṃ yatrāvajāyate ||
毗湿摩说道：“长子既能使家族昌盛，亦能使之覆亡。诚然，若长子秉性卑劣堕落、可鄙可憎，他便能毁灭自己所生之整个宗族。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The moral weight of the eldest is decisive: by good conduct he becomes the pillar of the lineage, but by corrupt conduct he can become the cause of its collapse. Seniority is presented as a position of heightened dharmic accountability.
In the Anushasana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira on social and familial ethics. Here he stresses how the character and choices of the family’s eldest strongly shape the fate of the entire kula.