Shloka 14
Dasyu-maryādā and Buddhi-guided Rāja-nīti (दस्युमर्यादा तथा बुद्धिप्रधान-राजनीति)
अथ सा पूजनी राजन्नागमत् फलहारिणी । अपश्यन्निहतं पुत्रं तेन बालेन भूतले,राजन! तदनन्तर जब पूजनी फल लेकर लौटी तो उसने देखा कि राजकुमारने उसके बच्चेको मार डाला है और वह धरतीपर पड़ा है
atha sā pūjanī rājann āgamat phalahāriṇī | apaśyann ihataṃ putraṃ tena bālena bhūtale ||
Bhishma said: “Then, O King, Pūjanī returned carrying fruits. On arriving, she saw her son lying on the ground, slain by that boy. The scene underscores the grave breach of dharma in harming the innocent, and the sorrow that follows when power or impulse overrides dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the adharma of harming the innocent and implies that such an act brings immediate suffering and moral downfall; it frames violence against the helpless as a serious ethical transgression.
Pūjanī returns with fruits and discovers her son has been killed and lies on the ground, slain by a boy—an event presented to intensify the moral gravity and emotional consequence within Bhīṣma’s instruction to the king.