Shloka 76
क्षमया तिष्ठते राजन् क्षमया विनिवर्तते । राजन! क्रोध लोभसे उत्पन्न होता है, दूसरोंके दोष देखनेसे बढ़ता, क्षमा करनेसे थम जाता और क्षमासे ही निवृत्त हो जाता है
kṣamayā tiṣṭhate rājan kṣamayā vinivartate |
Bhishma said: “O King, anger is held in check by forgiveness, and by forgiveness it is turned back. When one chooses to forbear, wrath loses its ground and returns to stillness.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Forgiveness (kṣamā) is presented as the practical antidote to anger: it prevents anger from taking hold and also causes it to subside once arisen. The ethical point is that restraint and forbearance preserve dharma and social harmony more effectively than retaliation.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he emphasizes a ruler’s inner discipline: the king should master anger through forgiveness, since uncontrolled wrath undermines just governance and peace.