Shloka 13

आपद्धर्मे राज्ञः नीतिः — Bharadvāja’s Counsel on Crisis-Statecraft (Śānti Parva 138)

Devanagari script

विलोड्यमाने तस्मिंस्तु खुततोये जलाशये । अगच्छद्‌ बन्धन तत्र दीर्घसूत्र: सहापरैः,जिसका पानी बाहर निकल चुका था, वह जलाशय जब मथा जाने लगा, तब दीर्घ॑सूत्री भी दूसरे मत्स्योंके साथ जालमें फँस गया

Transliteration

viloḍyamāne tasmiṃs tu khutatoye jalāśaye | agacchad bandhanaṃ tatra dīrghasūtraḥ sahāparaiḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma said: When that pond—its water already drained away—was churned and disturbed, Dīrghasūtra too, along with the other fish, went there into captivity, becoming caught in the net.

Word by Word

विलोड्यमानेwhen (it was) being churned/stirred

तस्मिन्in that

तुbut/indeed

खुततोयेin (the reservoir) whose water had flowed out/been drained

जलाशयेin the pond/reservoir

अगच्छत्went/came (to)

बन्धनम्the net/bondage (trap)

तत्रthere

दीर्घसूत्रःDīrghasūtra (the long-procrastinating one; name of a fish)

सहtogether with

अपरैःwith others

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Dīrghasūtra

jalāśaya (pond/reservoir)

bandhana (bondage/capture)

matsyāḥ (other fish, implied by sahāparaiḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should act with timely discernment: when danger-signs are evident (the pond already drained), delaying action leads to bondage. Procrastination turns a manageable risk into inevitable capture.

What is happening in the narrative?

A pond whose water has already been removed is then churned/dragged (as by fishermen). In that disturbance, the fish named Dīrghasūtra, along with others, gets caught in the net and falls into captivity.