Shloka 28
वदन्ति मित्र॑ं सहजं विचक्षणा- स्तथैव साम्ना च धनेन चार्जितम् | प्रतापतश्नोपनतं चतुर्विधिं तदस्ति सर्व तव पाण्डवेषु,“विद्वान् पुरुष चार प्रकारके मित्र बतलाते हैं। एक सहज मित्र होते हैं (जिनके साथ स्वाभाविक मैत्री होती हैं)। दूसरे हैं संधि करके बनाये हुए मित्र। तीसरे वे हैं जो धन देकर अपनाये गये हैं। जो किसीके प्रबल प्रतापसे प्रभावित हो स्वतः शरणमें आ जाते हैं, वे चौथे प्रकारके मित्र हैं। पाण्डवोंके साथ तुम्हारी सभी प्रकारकी मित्रता सम्भव है
vadanti mitraṃ sahajaṃ vicakṣaṇās tathaiva sāmnā ca dhanena cārjitam | pratāpataś copanataṃ caturvidhaṃ tad asti sarvaṃ tava pāṇḍaveṣu ||
Sañjaya said: “The discerning speak of friendship as fourfold: the natural friend born of innate affinity; the friend won through conciliation and agreement; the friend secured by gifts of wealth; and the friend who, overawed by another’s power and prowess, comes of his own accord to seek shelter. With the Pāṇḍavas, all these forms of alliance are available to you.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Friendship and political alliance are analyzed as four types—natural affinity, conciliation-based alliance, wealth-based alliance, and submission born of awe at power—highlighting a pragmatic ethical lens on how relationships form in statecraft.
Sañjaya addresses the listener (implicitly Dhṛtarāṣṭra) and argues that the Pāṇḍavas are capable of offering every kind of alliance, implying that reconciliation or strategic friendship with them is both possible and advantageous.