Mahabharata 1.140.77 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 140, Shloka 77
Hiḍimba’s Approach and Hiḍimbā’s Warning to Bhīmasena (हिडिम्बागमनम् / हिडिम्बा-भयवचनम्)
नाच्छित्त्वा परमर्माणि नाकृत्वा कर्म दारुणम् । नाहत्वा मत्स्यघातीव प्राप्रोति महतीं श्रियम्
nācchittvā paramarmāṇi nākṛtvā karma dāruṇam | nāhatvā matsyaghātīva prāpnoti mahatīṃ śriyam ||
Kaṇika sagte: Ein König erlangt keinen großen Wohlstand, wenn er nicht andere an ihren verwundbarsten Stellen trifft, harte und erbarmungslose Taten begeht und—wie ein Fischer, der Fische tötet—viele Leben nimmt.
कणिक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys a hard-edged, amoral political maxim: great royal prosperity is portrayed as requiring strategic harm—exploiting others’ vulnerabilities, performing ruthless acts, and even killing. It functions as a critique-worthy model of artha-driven statecraft that conflicts with dharma-centered ethics.
Kaṇika is speaking as a counselor, offering pragmatic (and morally troubling) guidance on how a ruler secures wealth and power. The fisherman simile underscores the normalizing of lethal violence as a means to gain ‘śrī’ (royal fortune).
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