Shloka 31

Jaitrya-nimitta: Signs of Prospective Victory and the Priority of Conciliation (जयलक्षण-निमित्त तथा सान्त्व-प्रधान नीति)

Devanagari script

मन्यते कर्षयित्वा तु क्षमा साध्वीति शम्बर: । असंतप्तं तु यद्‌ दारु प्रत्येति प्रकृति पुन:

Transliteration

manyate karṣayitvā tu kṣamā sādhvīti śambaraḥ | asaṃtaptaṃ tu yad dāru pratyeti prakṛtiṃ punaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Śambara holds that forgiveness is proper only after first wearing the enemy down through suffering. For if a crooked piece of wood is straightened without heating, it returns again to its original shape.”

Word by Word

• {'manyate': 'thinks, believes', 'karṣayitvā': 'having afflicted

• having weakened by causing hardship (lit. ‘having made to suffer/dragged down’)', 'tu': 'but

• indeed', 'kṣamā': 'forbearance, forgiveness', 'sādhvī': 'good, proper, commendable', 'iti': 'thus', 'śambaraḥ': 'Śambara (name of an asura/demon)', 'asaṃtaptaṃ': 'not heated, not made hot', 'yad': 'which', 'dāru': 'wood

• a piece of timber', 'pratyeti': 'returns, goes back', 'prakṛtim': 'natural state, original condition', 'punaḥ': 'again'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Śambara (asura)
• dāru (wood/timber)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Forgiveness (kṣamā) is portrayed—according to Śambara’s view—as effective only after the wrongdoer has been sufficiently checked or chastened; otherwise, like unheated wood forced straight, the person may revert to former harmful tendencies.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, while instructing on dharma in the Śānti Parva, cites Śambara’s opinion and illustrates it with a practical metaphor: straightening wood requires heating, just as reforming an adversary may require prior restraint or suffering before mercy can hold.