Shloka 19
Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)
सम्बुबोधयिषुर्मित्रं सदश्चवमिव सारथि: । अतिमन्युप्रसक्तो हि प्रसह हितकारणात्
saṃbubodhayīṣur mitraṃ sadaśvām iva sārathiḥ | atimanyuprasakto hi prasaha hitakāraṇāt ||
Bhīṣma said: “Just as a charioteer rouses and steadies a good horse, so too a friend who comes to admonish his friend—grieved beyond measure on seeing his friend’s impending loss—may, unable to endure it, speak forcefully for the sake of that friend’s welfare. A wise and well-wishing man, ever desirous of prosperity and advancement, should listen to such a benefactor-friend and forgive any harshness in his manner.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler or any wise person should accept frank, even forceful, admonition from a true friend when it is motivated by concern for one’s welfare, and should forgive the friend’s harsh tone because the intent is beneficial.
In Bhishma’s instruction on righteous conduct, he uses the metaphor of a charioteer correcting a good horse to explain how a well-wishing friend may urgently warn a king about impending loss; the king should listen and not punish the friend for blunt speech.