Shloka 3
उपायधर्म-सेनायोगः
Upāya-dharma and Senāyoga: Expedient Ethics & Army Deployment
उपायधर्मान् वक्ष्यामि सिद्धार्थानर्थधर्मयो: । निर्मर्यादा दस्यवस्तु भवन्ति परिपन्थिन:
upāyadharmān vakṣyāmi siddhārthān arthadharmayoḥ | nirmaryādā dasyavas tu bhavanti paripanthinaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Je décrirai les disciplines de l’action—des moyens éprouvés par lesquels on peut assurer à la fois la prospérité (artha) et la droiture (dharma). Lorsque des voleurs et des brigands, sans loi ni mesure, brisent les bornes de l’artha et du dharma et deviennent des coupeurs de route, je commencerai à exposer les mesures autorisées par les Veda pour les contenir et les anéantir. Écoute de moi ces expédients qui donnent réussite en toute entreprise.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma frames governance as the protection of both artha (public welfare and stability) and dharma (moral-legal order), and introduces ‘upāya-dharma’—practical, result-tested measures that a ruler may employ, including sanctioned force, to restrain lawless disruptors.
In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira receives instruction from Bhīṣma on kingship and policy. Here Bhīṣma begins a section on pragmatic statecraft: how to deal with bandits and social predators who violate the bounds of dharma and artha.