Shloka 26
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
“यद्यपि उनके बच्चे बड़े हो जानेपर अपने माँ-बापका पालन-पोषण नहीं करते हैं तो भी अपने प्यारे बच्चोंको न देखनेपर उनका शोक काबूमें नहीं रहता ।।
yady api te bālā bṛddhībhūya mātā-pitarau na paripālayanti, tathāpi priyabālān adṛṣṭvā teṣāṃ śoko na vaśaṃ gacchati. mānuṣāṇāṃ kutaḥ sneho yeṣāṃ śoko bhaviṣyati? imaṃ kulakaraṃ putraṃ tyaktvā kva nu gamiṣyatha?
毗湿摩说道：“纵使儿女长成而不奉养父母，父母一旦不见心爱的孩子，悲痛仍难以遏止。人间又哪里有这般深情，竟会为子而哀恸？此子乃汝族之嗣续；舍弃这儿子，你们将往何处去？”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the powerful, often involuntary nature of parental attachment: even when children fail in their duty to support parents, parents still grieve when separated from them. He uses this to stress the moral weight of family bonds and the significance of preserving and caring for one’s lineage-bearer (kulakara).
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he appeals to the listeners’ sense of familial responsibility and natural affection, pointing to a child as the continuer of the family line and questioning how one could abandon such a son and depart.