Shloka 34

Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)

Devanagari script

न च मेउत्र भवान्‌ गह्यों न च येषां भवान्‌ प्रिय: । हिताहितांस्तु बुद्धयेथा मा परोक्षमतिर्भवे:

Transliteration

na ca me 'tra bhavān gāhyo na ca yeṣāṃ bhavān priyaḥ | hitāhitāṃs tu buddhyethā mā parokṣamatir bhaveḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Here I do not censure you, nor those to whom you are dear. I only say this: discern for yourself what is truly beneficial and what is harmful. Let your understanding not be indirect—see each course of action with your own eyes, and do not rest your trust merely on others’ supervision.”

Word by Word

• {'na ca': 'and not

• nor', 'me': 'to me

• by me', 'atra': 'here

• in this matter', 'bhavān': 'you (honorific)', 'gāhyaḥ': 'to be censured/blamed

• to be reproached', 'yeṣām': 'of whom

• of those whose', 'priyaḥ': 'dear

• beloved', 'hitāhitān': 'the beneficial and the harmful

• welfare and non-welfare', 'tu': 'but

• indeed', 'buddhyethāḥ': 'you should understand/discern (2nd person optative/imperative sense)', 'mā': 'do not', 'parokṣa-matiḥ': 'an indirect/second-hand understanding

• mediated judgment', 'bhaveḥ': 'may you be

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• bhavān (the addressed interlocutor, unnamed in the verse)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma urges direct discernment: one should personally distinguish benefit from harm (hita vs. ahita) and avoid relying on second-hand judgment or merely trusting others to manage one’s affairs.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhishma addresses the listener with counsel. He clarifies that he is not blaming the person or their associates; rather, he is advising careful, firsthand evaluation of actions and consequences in the pursuit of right conduct.