Shloka 17

धर्म्यविजय-नियमाः

Rules for Dharmic Victory in Kṣatriya Engagement

Devanagari script

नाधर्मश्चरितो राजन्‌ सद्य: फलति गौरिव

Transliteration

nādharmas carito rājan sadyaḥ phalati gaur iva

Translation

Bhishma said: “O King, wrongdoing does not yield its result at once—just as a cow does not give milk immediately (the moment it is tended).”

Word by Word

• na: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na

• adharmaḥ: unrighteousness, wrongdoing
• adharmaḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: adharma
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• caritaḥ: practised, committed
• Type: Verb
• Root: carita
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular, kta (past passive participle), car (चर्)

• rājan: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• sadyaḥ: immediately, at once
• sadyaḥ: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadyaḥ

• phalati: bears fruit, yields result
• Type: Verb
• Root: phal
• Form: present, lat, third, singular, parasmaipada

• gauriva: like a cow
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: go + iva

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• the King (Yudhiṣṭhira, implied)
• cow (gauḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma teaches that the consequences of adharma are often delayed: a wrongful act may not show its result immediately, but it ripens in time and inevitably bears fruit.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance, Bhīṣma cautions the king not to mistake a lack of immediate punishment for moral safety; ethical causality operates over time.