Shloka 12
चिरकारि-उपाख्यानम् / The Exemplum of Cirakārī: Deliberation Before Irreversible Action
ते चेन्मिथो<धृतिं कुर्युर्विनश्येयुरसंशयम् । न हर्तव्यं परधनमिति धर्म: सनातन:
te cen mitho dhṛtiṁ kuryur vinaśyeyur asaṁśayam | na hartavyaṁ paradhanam iti dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “If people were to make a mutual pact of stubborn resolve (to seize and retaliate), they would surely come to ruin. Therefore one must not take another’s wealth—this is the eternal law of dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that taking another’s property is contrary to eternal dharma; when people harden into mutual, retaliatory resolve, society collapses into certain ruin.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous conduct and social ethics; here he warns against cycles of mutual obstinacy and affirms the perennial rule against appropriating others’ wealth.