Shloka 13
Śaraṇāgatapālana—Prastāvanā
Protection of the Refuge-Seeker: Opening of the Kapota Narrative
वाड्मात्रेण विनीतः स्याद् हृदयेन यथा क्षुर: । श्लक्ष्णपूर्वाभिभाषी च कामक्रोधौ विवर्जयेत्,“राजा केवल बातचीतमें ही अत्यन्त विनयशील हो, हृदयको छूरेके समान तीखा बनाये रखे; पहले मुसकराकर मीठे वचन बोले तथा काम-क्रोधको त्याग दे
vāg-mātreṇa vinītaḥ syād hṛdayena yathā kṣuraḥ | ślakṣṇa-pūrvābhibhāṣī ca kāma-krodhau vivarjayet ||
Bhīṣma said: “Let a king be outwardly humble in speech alone, yet keep his heart as keen as a razor. Let him address others first with smooth, pleasing words, and let him abandon lust and anger.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler should practice strategic gentleness in speech while maintaining inner sharpness and vigilance, and must renounce the destabilizing impulses of lust (kāma) and anger (krodha).
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma continues advising the king on effective and ethical statecraft—how to speak, how to guard one’s inner resolve, and which passions to restrain.