Shloka 18
आपद्धर्मे राज्ञः नीतिः — Bharadvāja’s Counsel on Crisis-Statecraft (Śānti Parva 138)
एवं प्राप्ततमं काल॑ यो मोहान्नावबुद्धयते । स विनश्यति वै क्षिप्र॑ दीर्घसूत्रो यथा झष:
evaṁ prāptatamaṁ kālaṁ yo mohān nāvabuddhyate | sa vinaśyati vai kṣipraṁ dīrghasūtro yathā jhaṣaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Ainsi, l’homme qui, par illusion, ne reconnaît pas le Temps (la Mort) lorsqu’il est déjà sur lui, périt promptement, tel le poisson qui s’attarde trop et tarde à agir.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One must recognize the decisive moment—especially the approach of danger, decline, or death—and act with clarity; delusion and procrastination bring swift ruin.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction during the Śānti teachings, he uses a vivid simile: a person who does not perceive Time when it has arrived is destroyed quickly, like a fish that delays and is caught or killed.