Shloka 27
निग्रह: पण्डितै: कार्य: क्षिप्रमेव प्रधानत: । परस्पर फूटकर पृथक्-पृथक् अपनी शक्तिका प्रयोग करनेवाले लोगोंमें जो मुख्य-मुख्य नेता हों, उनका संघराज्यके विद्वान् अधिकारियोंको शीघ्र ही दमन करना चाहिये || २६६ || कुलेषु कलहा जाता: कुलवृद्धैरुपेक्षिता:
nigrahaḥ paṇḍitaiḥ kāryaḥ kṣipram eva pradhānataḥ | paraspara-phūṭakṛt pṛthak-pṛthag ātmanaḥ śaktiṃ prayuñjānānāṃ lokeṣu ye mukhya-mukhyā netāraḥ syuḥ, tān saṃgharājyasya vidvad-adhikāribhiḥ śīghram eva damayituṃ yuktam || kuleṣu kalaho jātaḥ kula-vṛddhair upekṣitaḥ ||
Bhishma said: “The wise should act first and act swiftly to restrain disorder. When people split into rival factions and each uses his own power separately, the principal leaders among them should be promptly subdued by the learned officers of a confederate state. And when quarrels arise within clans and are ignored by the elders of the family, the discord grows into a wider calamity.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Preventive governance is a duty: wise authorities should restrain factional leaders quickly, because early intervention stops small ruptures from becoming systemic disorder.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rajadharma, Bhishma advises the king on statecraft: when groups fracture and rival leaders mobilize separate power, the state must promptly curb them; likewise, family or clan quarrels ignored by elders tend to escalate.