Shloka 12
Adhyāya 270 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s inquiry on saṃnyāsa; Bhīṣma on calculable time, tamas, and karma
Vṛtra–Uśanā exemplum begins
आशायास्तनयो<धर्म: क्रोधो5सूयासुत: स्मृत: । लोभ: पुत्रो निकृत्यास्तु कृतघ्नो नाहति प्रजाम्
āśāyās tanayo 'dharmaḥ krodho 'sūyāsutaḥ smṛtaḥ | lobhaḥ putro nikṛtyās tu kṛtaghno nāhati prajām ||
毗湿摩说道：“由希望生出不义；忿怒被说是嫉妒之子；贪欲则是欺诳之裔。然而忘恩负义之人，不会生育——或不配生育——子嗣。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma presents a moral chain: unchecked expectation (āśā) breeds adharma; envy (asūyā) gives rise to anger; deceit (nikṛti) produces greed. He then singles out ingratitude (kṛtaghnatā) as especially destructive—so blameworthy that such a person is deemed unfit to sustain lineage or social trust.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous living after the war, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira through compact ethical aphorisms. Here he uses ‘parentage’ metaphors to explain how inner dispositions generate further faults and to warn against the social and spiritual consequences of ingratitude.