Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 17
Adhyāya 177: Pañca-mahābhūta-vicāra and Vṛkṣa-jīva-lakṣaṇa
Five Elements Inquiry and the Status of Plant Life
अथैनं रूपमानश्न धनमानश्न् विन्दति । अभिजातोड<स्मि सिद्धो स्मि नास्मि केवलमानुष:
athainaṁ rūpamānaś ca dhanamānaś ca vindati | abhijāto ’smi siddho ’smi nāsmi kevalamānuṣaḥ ||
继而，对容貌的傲慢与对财富的醉狂攫住了他。他便自念：“我出身高贵；我已成就；我并非寻常之人。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns that beauty and wealth can generate māna (conceit), leading a person to overestimate himself—claiming noble status and exceptional attainment—and to forget ordinary human limits. The ethical lesson is to guard against ego born of external advantages.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct and inner discipline, Bhishma describes a psychological sequence: once a person is overtaken by pride in appearance and riches, he begins to speak inwardly in grand claims—‘I am high-born, accomplished, not merely human’—showing the rise of arrogance that undermines dharma.