Shloka 6
Adhyāya 159 — Dāna–Dakṣiṇā, Āpaddharma Measures, and Prāyaścitta Classifications
अत्यागश्चातितर्षश्न विकर्मसु च या: क्रिया: । कुलविद्यामदश्नैव रूपैश्चर्यमदस्तथा
bhīṣma uvāca | atyāgaś cātitarṣaś ca vikarmasu ca yāḥ kriyāḥ | kulavidyā-madaś caiva rūpaiś carya-madas tathā |
毗湿摩说道：由吝啬与过度的渴求，便生起种种邪行——违背《圣典》（śāstra）之举。亦由此生出对门第与学识的傲慢，以及对美色与富贵的沉醉。此等内在过失，继而外现为对众生的敌意、对他人的轻蔑、对一切人的猜疑，以及曲诈狡黠的行径。故不加节制的欲望与我慢，便成为行为中不法（adharma）的种子。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that miserliness and excessive craving generate a chain of moral decline: they push a person into śāstra-opposed actions and inflate ego (pride in lineage, learning, beauty, and prosperity), which then manifests as hostility, contempt, distrust, and deceit. The remedy implied is restraint, generosity, and humility to prevent adharma from taking root.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma after the war, Bhishma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira with ethical counsel. Here he lists inner vices and their outward social consequences, explaining how certain mental dispositions (greed and pride) lead to wrongful conduct and harm toward others.