Shloka 43

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

Devanagari script

अतो नायं शूभो वासस्तुल्ये सदसती इह । वधो होवात्र सुकृते दुष्कृते न च संशय:,अतः यहाँ रहनेमें किसीका कल्याण नहीं है। यहाँ भले-बुरे सब एक समान हैं। इस राज्यमें बुराई करनेवाले और भलाई करनेवालेका भी वध हो सकता है, इसमें संशय नहीं है

Transliteration

ato nāyaṁ śubho vāsaḥ tulye sadasatīha | vadho hovātra sukṛte duṣkṛte na ca saṁśayaḥ ||

Translation

Por ello, vivir aquí no trae verdadero bienestar. En este lugar, al bueno y al malo se les trata por igual. Aquí, tanto quien ha obrado con mérito como quien ha obrado con pecado puede ser condenado a muerte; de ello no hay duda.

Word by Word

अतःtherefore

नnot

अयम्this (one/this state/this place)

शुभःauspicious, beneficial

वासःdwelling, residence

तुल्येwhen (two) are equal

सत्good, right

असत्bad, wrong

इहhere

वधःkilling, execution

भवतिhappens, occurs, is

अत्रhere, in this place/state

सुकृतेin/for good deed (good conduct)

दुष्कृतेin/for evil deed (misdeed)

नnot

चand

संशयःdoubt

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma warns that a polity where virtue and vice receive the same outcome is ethically ruinous: when punishment becomes arbitrary, residence there cannot be called auspicious, because dharma no longer protects the righteous.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on governance and dharma, Bhīṣma speaks about the conditions of a realm and the consequences of misrule, emphasizing that in such a place even the meritorious may be slain, just like the wicked.