Shloka 30
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
न मातृपितृशुश्रूषा न च दैवतपूजनम् । नान्यो गुणसमाचार: पुरुषस्य सुखावह:,माता-पिताकी सेवा, देवताओंकी पूजा तथा अन्य सदगुणयुक्त सदाचार भी बुरे दिनोंमें किसी पुरुषके लिये सुखदायक नहीं होता है
na mātṛpitṛśuśrūṣā na ca daivatapūjanam | nānyo guṇasamācāraḥ puruṣasya sukhāvahaḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“无论是孝事父母，抑或祭奉诸天，亦或一切依善德而行的端正操守——当厄运之时降临，这些并不必然成为一人的慰藉。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that even exemplary duties—serving parents, worshipping the gods, and living virtuously—may not guarantee immediate comfort during misfortune. It highlights the gap between moral worth and worldly outcomes, urging steadiness in dharma without treating virtue as a sure bargain for happiness.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhīṣma continues advising on dharma and the realities of human life. Here he emphasizes to the listener that calamity can overwhelm ordinary expectations of reward, framing ethical life as intrinsically right rather than merely instrumentally profitable.