Shloka 131
अपि पापकृतो रौद्रा: सत्यं कृत्वा पृथक् पृथक् । अद्रोहमविसंवादं प्रवर्तन्ते तदाश्रया:
api pāpakṛto raudrāḥ satyaṃ kṛtvā pṛthak pṛthak | adroham avisaṃvādaṃ pravartante tadāśrayāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: Even those who are sinful and fierce, when they take truth as their guiding rule—each in his own sphere—come to live by non-injury and by faithfulness (freedom from deceit), sustained by that very commitment.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Truthfulness (satya) is presented as a foundational discipline: when one genuinely adopts truth as a guiding principle, it naturally supports other virtues such as non-hostility (adroha) and freedom from deceit or breach of trust (avisaṃvāda), even in people inclined to wrongdoing or harshness.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma is teaching about ethical conduct and inner reform. Here he emphasizes that commitment to truth can restrain violent or sinful tendencies and stabilize behavior in society through reliability and non-injury.