Shloka 26

मृत्यु-काल-प्रबोधनम् (Instruction on Mortality, Time, and Truth) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 169

Devanagari script

ये च दोषसमायुक्ता नराः प्रोक्ता मयानघ

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | ye ca doṣa-samāyuktā narāḥ proktā mayānagha, niṣpāpa nareśa! teṣāṃ sarveṣām adhamo bhavati kṛtaghnaḥ | sa mitra-vadhyam api karoti | tādṛśān durācārān narādhamān dūrata eva tyajet | eṣa sarveṣāṃ niścayaḥ |

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“无瑕的国王啊，在我所说一切染有过失之人中，最卑下者乃忘恩负义之徒。此等人甚至会走到杀害自己朋友的地步。因此，那些卑劣而行止败坏的人，应当远远弃绝。这是众人一致而确定的见解。”

Word by Word

• ये: who/which (those)
• ये: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• दोष-समायुक्ताः: endowed/associated with faults
• दोष-समायुक्ताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दोषसमायुक्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• नराः: men
• नराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रोक्ताः: have been said/declared
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-वच्
• Form: Passive (PPP), Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मया: by me
• मया: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Instrumental, Singular

• अनघ: O sinless one
• Type: Noun (vocative epithet)
• Root: अनघ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• King (addressed as nareśa/anagha/niṣpāpa; Yudhiṣṭhira in context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Gratitude is a foundational virtue in dharma; ingratitude (kṛtaghnatā) marks the lowest character because it can drive a person to betray and even destroy benefactors and friends. Such people should be avoided decisively.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction to the king during the Śānti Parva, he classifies moral faults and singles out the ungrateful person as the worst, advising the ruler to keep distance from such corrupt individuals for personal and social safety.