Shloka 63
Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)
वयं तु ब्राह्मणा नाम मृदुदण्डा: कृपालव: । स्वस्ति चेच्छाम भवत: परेषां च यथा55त्मन:
vayaṁ tu brāhmaṇā nāma mṛdu-daṇḍāḥ kṛpālavaḥ | svasti cecchāma bhavataḥ pareṣāṁ ca yathātmanā, mahārāja |
Bhishma sprach: „Wir, die Brahmanen, sind von Natur aus sanft in der Zucht und von mitfühlender Gesinnung. Darum, o großer König, suchen wir dein Wohl — und ebenso das Wohl der anderen — wie wir unser eigenes suchen.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the Brahmin ideal of gentle correction and compassion: true guidance seeks the welfare of the ruler and all beings, treating others’ good as one’s own.
In the Śānti Parva instruction, Bhishma addresses the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) and frames the Brahmins’ role as benevolent advisers—mild in punitive measures and motivated by universal welfare.