Shloka 11
Nārada–Vāyu–Śalmali Upākhyāna: Enmity with the Strong and the Primacy of Buddhi (नारद-वायु-शल्मलि उपाख्यानम्)
रुधिरस्थेव ते गन्ध: शवस्येव च दर्शनम् । अशिव: शिवसंकाशो मृतो जीवन्निवाटसि
rudhirastha iva te gandhaḥ śavasyeva ca darśanam | aśivaḥ śiva-saṅkāśo mṛto jīvann ivāṭasi ||
Bhishma sprach: „An dir haftet ein Geruch wie von geronnenem Blut, und dein Anblick gleicht dem eines Leichnams. Auch wenn du äußerlich glückverheißend scheinst, bist du in Wahrheit unheilvoll. In Wirklichkeit bist du schon tot, doch wandelst umher, als lebtest du.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Outward respectability or a show of auspiciousness cannot conceal inner moral decay. When one’s conduct becomes stained by grave wrongdoing, one is ‘dead’ in ethical-spiritual terms—moving about bodily alive but cut off from true well-being and dharma.
Bhīṣma delivers a harsh moral denunciation, describing the addressed person as reeking of blood and looking like a corpse—an image meant to expose hidden guilt and the inauspicious state produced by violent or unrighteous deeds, despite any outwardly pleasing appearance.