Shloka 813
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
जीवतो ये न पश्यन्ति तेषां धर्मविपर्यय: । जो लोग जीवित माता-पिता, सुहृदों और भाई-बन्धुओंकी देखभाल नहीं करते हैं, उनके धर्मकी हानि होती है
jīvato ye na paśyanti teṣāṃ dharmaviparyayaḥ |
豺狼阇婆迦说道：“若在长辈尚在人世时不加奉养——尤其是不奉养父母，并且怠慢善友与兄弟亲族——其人便是法（dharma）之颠倒。因忽弃最切近、最具约束力的照护之责，其道德秩序遂告崩塌。”
जम्बुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Neglecting one’s living parents and close relations is presented as a direct inversion of dharma. The verse frames care for elders and dependents as a foundational ethical duty; abandoning it undermines one’s righteousness and social-moral stability.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Jambuka delivers a moral instruction: he condemns those who do not ‘see’—i.e., do not attend to and support—their living parents and close kin, declaring that such neglect results in dharma’s reversal for them.