Shloka 25
राजधर्मप्रश्नः — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry into Rājadharma (Śānti-parva 56)
“अग्नि जलसे, क्षत्रिय ब्राह्मणसे और लोहा पत्थरसे प्रकट हुआ है। इनका तेज अन्य सब स्थानोंपर तो अपना प्रभाव दिखाता है; परंतु अपनेको उत्पन्न करनेवाले कारणसे टक्कर लेनेपर स्वयं ही शान्त हो जाता है ।। अयो हन्ति यदाश्मानमग्निना वारि हन्यते । ब्रह्म च क्षत्रियो द्वेष्टि तदा सीदन्ति ते त्रय:,“जब लोहा पत्थरपर चोट करता है, आग जलको नष्ट करने लगती है और क्षत्रिय ब्राह्मणसे द्वेष करने लगता है, तब ये तीनों ही दुःख उठाते हैं। अर्थात् ये दुर्बल हो जाते हैं
agniḥ jalase, kṣatriyo brāhmaṇase ca, ayas tu aśmnaḥ prabhavo bhavati; eteṣāṁ tejaḥ sarvatra svapratāpaṁ darśayati, kintu svotpattikāraṇena saha saṅgharṣe svayam eva śāmyati. ayo hanti yadā aśmānam, agninā vāri hanyate, brahma ca kṣatriyo dveṣṭi, tadā sīdanti te trayaḥ.
Bhishma said: “Fire is manifest in relation to water, the Kshatriya in relation to the Brahmin, and iron in relation to stone. Each shows its power against many things; yet when it contends with the very source or counter-principle from which it is manifested, its force is checked and it becomes quiet. Thus, when iron strikes stone, when fire is met by water, and when a Kshatriya turns to hatred of a Brahmin, all three suffer decline—each is weakened by that hostile collision.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power should not be turned against its own sustaining counterpart: iron against stone, fire against water, and especially the Kshatriya against the Brahmin. Such antagonism does not yield true gain; it causes mutual harm and the aggressor’s own decline. The verse warns that hatred—particularly toward one’s dharmic guide—undermines strength and stability.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma after the war. Here he uses natural analogies (iron–stone, fire–water) to illustrate a social-ethical principle: when a Kshatriya enters into enmity with a Brahmin, the resulting clash weakens all involved, signaling disorder in the moral and political order.