Shloka 52

मृदु-तीक्ष्ण-नीति तथा दुष्टलक्षण-विज्ञानम्

Measured Policy and the Recognition of Malicious Disposition

Devanagari script

इति दुष्टस्य विज्ञानमुक्त ते सुरसत्तम । निशम्य शास्त्रतत्त्वार्थ यथावदमरेश्व॒र

Transliteration

iti duṣṭasya vijñānam ukta te surasattama | niśamya śāstra-tattvārthaṃ yathāvad amareśvara ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “Thus, O best among the gods, I have explained to you the discernment by which a wicked person is recognized. Having duly reflected upon the true purport of the śāstras, O lord of the immortals, I have set forth these marks that reveal the nature of the corrupt.”

Word by Word

• {'iti': 'thus

• in this manner (concluding particle)', 'duṣṭasya': 'of the wicked/corrupt person', 'vijñānam': 'discernment

• diagnostic understanding', 'uktam/ukta': 'said

• declared', 'te': 'to you', 'surasattama': 'best among the gods', 'niśamya': 'having heard

• having considered attentively', 'śāstra': 'authoritative teaching

• normative treatise', 'tattva': 'truth

• reality', 'artha': 'meaning

• purport', 'śāstra-tattvārtham': 'the true purport/principled meaning of the śāstras', 'yathāvat': 'properly

• as it should be', 'amareśvara': 'lord of the immortals (an epithet for a deity)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• surasattama (addressed deity)
• amareśvara (addressed deity)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma emphasizes that moral discernment—recognizing the marks of a wicked person—should be grounded in the properly understood purport of śāstra, not in impulse or prejudice.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma concludes a section of instruction by telling the addressed divine listener that he has finished explaining the indicators by which a corrupt person is identified, based on correct reflection on scriptural principles.