Shloka 52
Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)
उषितं शड्कमानेन प्रमादं परिरक्षता । अन्तःसर्प इवागारे वीरपत्न्या इवालये
uṣitaṃ ṣaḍkamānena pramādaṃ parirakṣatā | antaḥsarpa ivāgāre vīrapatnyā ivālaye
قال بهيشما: «ينبغي للمرء أن يعيش بيقظةٍ سداسية، حارسًا نفسه من الغفلة حراسةً دقيقة—كأفعى كامنةٍ في البيت، أو كزوجةِ المحارب في الدار—دائمَ التنبّه، ضابطَ النفس، متأهّبًا للخطر.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that one must actively guard against pramāda (heedlessness). Ethical life requires sustained vigilance and self-restraint, because danger and moral downfall can arise subtly from within one’s own environment and habits.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he uses vivid similes—a concealed snake in a house and the guarded presence of a warrior’s wife at home—to stress constant alertness and careful living.