Shloka 5

उपायधर्म-सेनायोगः

Upāya-dharma and Senāyoga: Expedient Ethics & Army Deployment

Devanagari script

उभे प्रज्ञे वेदितव्ये ऋज्वी वक्रा च भारत | जाननू्‌ वक्रां न सेवेत प्रतिबाधेत चागताम्‌

Transliteration

ubhe prajñe veditavye ṛjvī vakrā ca bhārata | jñānan vakrāṃ na seveta pratibādheta cāgatām bharatanandana ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “O Bharata, two kinds of discernment are to be understood—one straight and one crooked. A king should know both. Yet, as far as possible, he should not deliberately resort to crooked counsel; and even if such a tendency arises on its own, O joy of the Bharatas, he should strive to repel it.”

Word by Word

• {'ubhe': 'both (two)', 'prajñe': 'forms of intelligence/discernment

• practical wisdom', 'veditavye': 'should be known/understood', 'ṛjvī': 'straight, upright, honest', 'vakrā': 'crooked, deceitful, perverse', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)', 'jñānan': 'knowing, being aware', 'vakrām': 'crooked (intelligence/counsel) (acc. sg.)', 'na seveta': 'should not practice/resort to', 'pratibādheta': 'should ward off/repel/oppose', 'āgatām': 'that which has come/arrived

• arisen (of itself)', 'bharatanandana': 'O delight of the Bharatas (epithet of Yudhiṣṭhira)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Yudhiṣṭhira (addressed as Bhārata, Bharatanandana)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler must recognize both upright and deceitful modes of thinking, but should intentionally choose the upright; if crooked impulses arise, he should actively restrain and remove them.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and governance, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira on royal conduct, warning him against adopting or tolerating crooked counsel even when it appears spontaneously.