Shloka 9
मृत्यु-काल-प्रबोधनम् (Instruction on Mortality, Time, and Truth) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 169
असत्यो लोकविद्धिष्ट: समये चानवस्थित: । पिशुनो5थाकृतप्रज्ञो मत्सरी पापनिश्चय:
bhīṣma uvāca | asatyo lokavidviṣṭaḥ samaye cānavasthitaḥ | piśuno ’thākṛtaprajño matsarī pāpaniścayaḥ ||
ভীষ্ম ক’লে—যি মিছলীয়া, লোকৰ ঘৃণিত, আৰু প্ৰয়োজনত স্থিৰ নহয়; যি চুগলখোৰ, বিবেকহীন, ঈৰ্ষাপৰায়ণ আৰু পাপত দৃঢ়নিশ্চয়ী—সেইজন সন্ধিৰ যোগ্য নহয়।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that alliances (saṃdhi) must be grounded in trustworthiness and dharmic character. A pact with a deceitful, envious, cruel, and unreliable person is self-destructive, because such a person will abandon partners in crisis, exploit faults, and turn hostile even to benefactors.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on governance and conduct, Bhishma is advising Yudhishthira about political prudence and ethical statecraft. Here he lists the traits of people with whom one should not make treaties or friendships, and then signals that he will next describe those who are fit for alliance.