Shloka 6
नृशंस-लक्षणनिर्णयः | Determining the Marks of Cruel Conduct
Nṛśaṃsa
हीनपुष्पाग्रशाखस्त्वं शीर्णाकुरपलाशक: । आत्मदुर्मन्त्रितेनेह मद्वीर्यवशग: कृत:,वायुने कहा--शाल्मले! मैं भी रोषमें भरकर तुम्हें ऐसा ही बना देना चाहता था। तुमने स्वयं ही यह कष्ट स्वीकार कर लिया है, तुम्हारी शाखाएँ गिर गयीं, फूल पत्ते, डालियाँ और अंकुर सभी नष्ट हो गये। तुमने अपनी ही कुमतिसे यह विपत्ति मोल ली है। तुम्हें मेरे बल और पराक्रमका शिकार बनना पड़ा है
hīnapuṣpāgraśākhas tvaṁ śīrṇākurapalāśakaḥ | ātma-durmantriteneha mad-vīryavaśagaḥ kṛtaḥ |
Bhishma said: 'You have been left with your flowering tips and branches ruined; your buds and leaves have withered and fallen away. By your own ill-judged counsel you have brought this suffering upon yourself here, and you have been made subject to my strength and prowess.'
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ill counsel and poor judgment (durmantrita) lead to self-created ruin; one becomes vulnerable to external force when one’s own discernment fails.
Bhishma quotes a rebuke describing someone (implicitly an addressed party in the exemplum) as stripped of flowers, buds, and leaves—an image of total loss—stating that the misfortune was chosen through one’s own bad decision and has resulted in subjection to another’s power.