Shloka 17
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
निश्चितार्थाश्च ते सर्वे संत्यजन्त: स्वमात्मजम् । निराशा जीविते तस्य मार्गमावृत्य धिष्ठिता:
niścitārthāś ca te sarve saṃtyajantaḥ svam ātmajam | nirāśā jīvite tasya mārgam āvṛtya dhiṣṭhitāḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：当众人都已确信结局——那孩子必不能活——便对他的性命绝望。于是他们竟弃下自己的孩子，前来站在路上阻拦去路，执意要按既定之举行事。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how certainty of loss can turn into despair that erodes compassion and duty. Ethically, it warns against letting hopelessness justify abandoning one’s responsibility toward the vulnerable, and shows how fear-driven resolve can lead to harmful collective action.
The people become convinced that a certain person (referred to as ‘he’) will not live. Losing hope, they abandon their own child and position themselves on the road, blocking it—standing firmly as if committed to a decisive, possibly harsh, course of action.