Shloka 13
Nīti-upadeśa to a Rājaputra: Self-restraint, Alliances, and Rival-Management (नीतिउपदेशः)
पक्षिणो मृगजातानि रसगन्धा: फलानि च । तेष्वेव सज्जयेथास्त्वं यथा नश्यत्वयं पर:,अथवा दूसरोंसे मेल करके उन्हींके द्वारा शत्रुके बलका भी नाश कराओ। राजकुमार! जो शुभ पदार्थ अलभ्य हैं, उनमें तथा स्त्री, ओढ़ने-बिछानेके सुन्दर वस्त्र, अच्छे-अच्छे पलंग, आसन, वाहन, बहुमूल्य गृह, तरह-तरहके रस, गन्ध और फल--इन्हीं वस्तुओंमें शत्रुको आसक्त करो। भाँति-भाँतिके पक्षियों और विभिन्न जातिके पशुओंके पालनकी भी आसक्ति शत्रुके मनमें पैदा करो, जिससे यह शत्रु धीरे-धीरे धनहीन होकर स्वतः नष्ट हो जाय
pakṣiṇo mṛgajātāni rasagandhāḥ phalāni ca | teṣv eva sajjayethās tvaṃ yathā naśyaty ayaṃ paraḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Birds, various kinds of game-animals, delicacies and fragrances, and fruits—fix your enemy’s attachment upon precisely these. By luring him into such pleasures and costly pursuits, he will gradually be drained of wealth and strength, and thus this adversary will come to ruin of his own accord.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches a rāja-nīti tactic: instead of open confrontation, weaken an enemy by cultivating his addiction to costly pleasures (luxury goods, entertainments, and indulgences) so that he exhausts his resources and collapses from within.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs the prince on governance and strategy. Here he recommends a method of neutralizing an adversary by redirecting the enemy’s mind toward indulgence—birds, animals, delicacies, perfumes, and fruits—so the enemy becomes financially and morally enfeebled and is ruined without direct battle.