Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 11
Gaṇānāṃ Vṛttiḥ — On the Sustenance and Cohesion of Assemblies
Gaṇa-nīti
लोभमेको हि वृणुते ततो5मर्षमनन्तरम् | तौ क्षयव्ययसंयुक्तावन्योन्यं च विनाशिनौ
lobham eko hi vṛṇute tato ’marṣam anantaram | tau kṣaya-vyaya-saṁyuktāv anyonyaṁ ca vināśinau ||
毗湿摩说道：“人先择贪欲；紧接着，怨愤（阿摩尔沙）便生起。随后，贪与怨与损耗、浪费相系，二者相互摧毁，使彼此同归于败亡，并对财物、民众以及自身的名望造成重大伤害。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greed is the first moral failure; it provokes resentment and conflict, and together greed and resentment inevitably lead to mutual destruction and heavy losses—material, social, and personal. The teaching urges restraint and the prevention of the first impulse (lobha) to avoid the chain reaction of harm.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction in the Śānti Parva, he analyzes how wrongdoing begins: one person’s greed triggers another’s indignation; once both are driven by these passions, their actions spiral into waste and ruin, making each side the cause of the other’s destruction.