Shloka 27
दैव–पुरुषकार-प्रश्नः
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Inquiry: Fate and Human Effort
आत्मैव ह्ात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मन: । आत्मैव हाात्मन: साक्षी कृतस्याप्यकृतस्य च,आत्मा ही अपना बन्धु है, आत्मा ही अपना शत्रु है तथा आत्मा ही अपने कर्म और अकर्मका साक्षी है
ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ | ātmaiva hy ātmanaḥ sākṣī kṛtasyāpy akṛtasya ca ||
Bhīṣma sprach: Das eigene Selbst ist allein der Freund des Menschen; das eigene Selbst ist allein auch sein Feind. Und das Selbst ist der Zeuge dessen, was getan wurde, und dessen, was ungetan blieb.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral responsibility is internal: the same self can uplift one through restraint and right choice, or ruin one through negligence and wrongdoing; and the self is the inescapable witness to both actions and omissions.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma; here he emphasizes inner accountability—before society or law, one’s own conscience (ātman) stands as friend, enemy, and witness.