Shloka 34
Vyavahāra-Śuddhi and Rājadharma: Clean Administration, Counsel, and Proportional Punishment
Chapter 86
एतच्छास्त्रार्थतत्त्वं तु मया55ख्यातं तवानघ । अविश्वासो नरेन्द्राणां गुह्मां परममुच्यते
etacchāstrārthatattvaṃ tu mayākhyātaṃ tavānagha | aviśvāso narendrāṇāṃ guhyāṃ paramam ucyate ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: “Oh tú, sin mancha, te he expuesto la verdadera esencia del sentido y el propósito de esta enseñanza. Sabe que, para los reyes, la desconfianza (esto es, la cautela prudente al apoyarse en otros) se proclama como el secreto supremo: un principio interior que debe guardarse y aplicarse para la protección del reino.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma frames a key principle of rāja-dharma: a ruler must practice aviśvāsa—measured distrust or vigilant caution—as a guarded, high-level secret, because uncritical trust can endanger governance, security, and justice.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and kingship. Here he concludes a point by saying he has revealed the essence of the teaching and highlights “prudent distrust” as a confidential maxim particularly relevant to kings.