Shloka 43
Varṇa-dharma and Rājadharma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Outline (वर्णधर्म-राजधर्म-प्रश्नोत्तरम्)
स्पर्शे चाभ्यवहार्ये चाप्युपांशुविविध: स्मृत: । अरिरमित्र उदासीन इत्येते5प्यनुवर्णिता:,यह गोपनीय दण्डसाधन (विष आदि) शत्रुपक्षके लोगोंके वस्त्र आदिके साथ स्पर्श कराने अथवा उनके भोजनमें मिला देनेके उपयोगमें आता है। विभिन्न मन्त्रोंके जपका प्रयोग भी पूर्वोक्त नीतिशास्त्रमें बताया गया है। इसके सिवा इस ग्रन्थमें शत्रु, मित्र और उदासीनका भी बारंबार वर्णन किया गया है
sparśe cābhyavahārye cāpy upāṁśu-vividhaḥ smṛtaḥ | arir amitra udāsīna ity ete 'py anuvarṇitāḥ ||
Bhishma said: “In matters of contact and of what is taken as food, a variety of covert (upāṁśu) measures are also recognized. Likewise, the categories ‘enemy’, ‘non-friend’, and ‘neutral’ are repeatedly described.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma emphasizes that governance includes both ethical discernment and practical strategy: one must classify others as enemy, non-friend, or neutral, and understand that covert methods (especially involving contact or ingestion) are discussed in traditional political teachings—though their use demands careful moral judgment within rāja-dharma.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on rāja-dharma and nīti. Here he notes that the treatise includes covert techniques connected with touch and food, and that it repeatedly explains how to deal with different categories of people—enemies, those not allied, and neutrals.