Shloka 56

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

Devanagari script

भवतो<र्थकृदित्येवं मयि दोषो हि तै: कृत: । विद्यते कारणं नान्यदिति मे नात्र संशय:

Transliteration

bhavato 'rthakṛd ity evaṁ mayi doṣo hi taiḥ kṛtaḥ | vidyate kāraṇaṁ nānyad iti me nātra saṁśayaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “Because I act for your welfare, those ministers have imputed a grave fault to me; and for that very reason they have come to bear hatred toward me. There is no other cause for their anger—of this statement I have no doubt.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'bhavataḥ', 'definition': 'of you

• your (genitive singular, respectful)'}, {'term': 'artha-kṛt', 'definition': 'one who brings about benefit

• one who acts for another’s good'}, {'term': 'iti evaṁ', 'definition': 'thus

• saying/considering so'}, {'term': 'mayi', 'definition': 'in/against me (locative singular of aham)'}, {'term': 'doṣaḥ', 'definition': 'fault, blame, defect, accusation'}, {'term': 'hi', 'definition': 'indeed

• emphatic particle'}, {'term': 'taiḥ', 'definition': 'by them (instrumental plural)'}, {'term': 'kṛtaḥ', 'definition': 'made, done, fabricated (past participle of √kṛ)'}, {'term': 'vidyate', 'definition': 'exists

• is found (present of √vid in sense ‘to be present’)'}, {'term': 'kāraṇam', 'definition': 'cause, reason'}, {'term': 'nānyat', 'definition': 'no other (na + anyat)'}, {'term': 'iti me', 'definition': 'thus (is) to me

• thus I hold/think'}, {'term': 'na atra', 'definition': 'not here

• in this matter, not (at all)'}, {'term': 'saṁśayaḥ', 'definition': 'doubt, uncertainty'}]

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• ministers (mantrins)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Good counsel and genuine welfare-intent can provoke hostility in political settings; Bhishma highlights how advisers may be maligned precisely because they act for the ruler’s true benefit, and he stresses clarity about causes and motives.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma explains to his listener that certain ministers have turned against him by manufacturing a serious accusation; he asserts that their resentment has no other basis than his role as a well-wisher acting for the ruler’s good.