Shloka 37
Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)
तेषामहं भयाद् राजन् गमिष्याम्यन्यमाश्रमम् | तैहि मे संधितो बाण: काके निपतित: प्रभो
teṣām ahaṃ bhayād rājan gamiṣyāmy anyam āśramam | taiḥ me sandhito bāṇaḥ kāke nipatitaḥ prabho ||
Bhishma said: “O king, out of fear of those adversaries I shall go to another hermitage. O lord, the arrow was aimed with me in mind; yet it fell upon a crow. This shows how fear and hostility can drive one from one’s rightful place, and how violence—once set in motion—may strike an unintended target, bringing harm where it was not deserved.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hostility and fear distort judgment and can displace the innocent; violence aimed at one person may harm another, revealing the ethical danger of acting from enmity rather than discernment and restraint.
Bhishma tells the king that, fearing certain opponents, he will move to another hermitage. Though an arrow was deliberately aimed at him, it instead struck a crow—an example of misdirected harm and the unpredictable fallout of aggression.