Shloka 25
प्रमाणमप्रमाणं वै यः: कुर्यादबुधो जन: । नस प्रमाणतामहों विवादजननो हि स:,जो मूर्ख मनुष्य प्रमाणको भी अप्रमाण बनाता है, उसकी बातको प्रामाणिक नहीं मानना चाहिये; क्योंकि वह केवल विवाद करनेवाला है
pramāṇam apramāṇaṃ vai yaḥ kuryād abudho janaḥ | na sa pramāṇatām āhūḥ vivādajanano hi saḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: A foolish person who turns what is authoritative into something unauthoritative should not be accepted as a reliable authority. Such a person is, in truth, merely a maker of disputes, not a guide to right understanding.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not treat a quarrelsome, undiscerning person as an authority—especially one who undermines genuine standards of proof and dharmic guidance by calling the authoritative ‘unauthoritative.’ Such behavior signals a motive to argue rather than to seek truth.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction within the Anuśāsana Parva, he cautions the listener about whom to trust in matters of dharma and knowledge, warning against those who distort accepted authorities and thereby create needless controversy.