Shloka 6

Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma

Devanagari script

विज्ञानबलपूतो यो वर्तते निन्दितेष्वपि । वृत्तिविज्ञानवान्‌ धीर: कस्तं वा वक्तुमहति

Transliteration

vijñānabalapūto yo vartate ninditeṣv api | vṛttivijñānavān dhīraḥ kas taṃ vā vaktum arhati ||

Translation

Bhishma dit : « Celui que la force de la vraie connaissance a purifié, et qui comprend clairement les moyens de subsistance — ce qui fait vivre chacun et par quelle conduite —, ce roi ferme et clairvoyant, même s’il accomplit des actes d’ordinaire blâmés afin de sauver le royaume du péril, qui serait en droit de le condamner ? »

Word by Word

• {'vijñāna': 'discriminative knowledge

• true understanding', 'bala': 'strength

• power', 'pūta': 'purified

• cleansed', 'yo': 'who', 'vartate': 'acts

• engages', 'ninditeṣu': 'in censured/blameworthy matters or actions', 'api': 'even

• even if', 'vṛtti': 'livelihood

• practical course of conduct', 'vijñānavān': 'possessing clear knowledge

• well-informed', 'dhīraḥ': 'steady

• self-controlled', 'kas': 'who?', 'tam': 'him', 'vā': 'indeed/then

• or (rhetorical)', 'vaktum': 'to speak (against)

• to declare', 'arhati': 'is worthy/fit

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches that a ruler grounded in true discernment and practical understanding of livelihood and governance may, in exceptional emergencies, undertake ordinarily blameworthy measures to protect the realm; such action, when guided by wisdom and necessity, is not easily subject to moral condemnation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on raja-dharma in the Shanti Parva, he argues about the difficult choices kings face: when the kingdom is threatened, a wise and steady ruler may need to act in ways that appear censurable, and Bhishma challenges the audience by asking who could rightly blame such a ruler acting for the state’s preservation.