Shloka 14
कपोत-लुब्धकसंवादः — Hunter’s Remorse and Renunciatory Resolve
परिमुष्णन्ति शास्त्राणि शास्त्रदोषानुदर्शिन: । विज्ञानमर्थविद्यानां न सम्यगिति वर्तते
parimuṣṇanti śāstrāṇi śāstradoṣānudarśinaḥ | vijñānam arthavidyānāṃ na samyag iti vartate ||
Bhishma said: “Those who constantly look for faults in the scriptures, as fault-finders, in effect plunder the authority of the śāstras. They go about declaring that the knowledge of the disciplines dealing with practical aims and policy (artha-vidyā) is not truly sound.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma warns that obsessive fault-finding in śāstra does not merely critique details; it erodes the very normative authority of scripture and leads people to dismiss practical and ethical knowledge (artha-vidyā) as unreliable.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma continues his discourse on right conduct and governance, criticizing those who undermine established teachings by constantly highlighting supposed defects and thereby discredit disciplines concerned with artha (policy and worldly order).