Shloka 4
मृदु-तीक्ष्ण-नीति तथा दुष्टलक्षण-विज्ञानम्
Measured Policy and the Recognition of Malicious Disposition
इन्द्र रवाच अहितेषु कथं ब्रह्मन् प्रवर्तेयमतन्द्रित: । असमुच्छिद्य चैवैतान् नियच्छेयमुपायत:
indra uvāca—ahiteṣu kathaṃ brahman pravarteyam atandritaḥ | asamucchidya caivaitān niyaccheyam upāyataḥ ||
Indra said: “O Brahman, how should I, remaining free from indolence, conduct myself toward those who are hostile? And without uprooting them entirely, by what means may I restrain and bring them under control?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical problem of governance: how to neutralize hostility through disciplined, vigilant action and appropriate means, while avoiding total annihilation—implying preference for restraint, policy, and measured control over indiscriminate destruction.
Within Bhishma’s discourse in the Shanti Parva, a dialogue is recalled in which Indra asks a Brahman-sage for counsel on dealing with enemies: he seeks a practical method to keep adversaries in check without exterminating them.