Shloka 16
Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)
वायसं तु विनिर्भिन्न दृष्टया बाणेन पञ्जरे | पूर्वह्नि ब्राह्मणो वाक््यं क्षेमदर्शिनमब्रवीत्
vāyasaṃ tu vinirbhinnaṃ dṛṣṭyā bāṇena pañjare | pūrvāhṇi brāhmaṇo vākyaṃ kṣemadarśinam abravīt |
Bhīṣma sprach: „Doch die Krähe, in einem Käfig eingeschlossen, wurde von einem Pfeil getroffen und durchbohrt, der allein nach dem Augenmaß gezielt war. Am Vormittag richtete ein Brāhmaṇa Worte an den, der das Wohl und die Sicherheit aller suchte.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical contrast: harm can be inflicted even with precision and intent (“by sight alone”), and therefore counsel from a Brāhmaṇa to a welfare-seeking person is introduced—implying that right action requires guidance oriented to kṣema (the safety and well-being of beings), not merely skill or power.
Bhīṣma narrates an episode in which a crow confined in a cage is pierced by an arrow. Following this incident, during the forenoon a Brāhmaṇa speaks to a figure described as kṣemadarśin—someone concerned with protection and welfare—setting up the next portion of the story as moral instruction or counsel.