Shloka 19
Dasyu-maryādā and Buddhi-guided Rāja-nīti (दस्युमर्यादा तथा बुद्धिप्रधान-राजनीति)
सहसंजातवृद्धस्य तथैव सहभोजिन: । शरणागतस्य च वधस्त्रिविधं होव पातकम्
saha-saṃjāta-vṛddhasya tathaiva saha-bhojinaḥ | śaraṇāgatasya ca vadhas trividhaṃ hova pātakam ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Tuer celui qui est né et a grandi avec toi, qui partage ta nourriture et ta compagnie, et qui est venu à toi chercher refuge—un tel meurtre est proclamé péché triple. Selon le dharma, il brise les liens de l’éducation commune, du pain partagé et le devoir sacré de protéger le suppliant.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that killing a person bound to you by intimate social and moral ties—shared birth/upbringing, shared food, and especially refuge—constitutes a compounded (threefold) moral transgression, because it breaks multiple layers of dharma: loyalty, hospitality, and the duty to protect the surrendered.
In the Shanti Parva’s dharma-instruction, Bhishma is laying down ethical rules for conduct. Here he specifies a grave prohibition: the slaying of a close associate and a refuge-seeker is not a single fault but a triple pātaka, emphasizing the heightened culpability when trust and protection are violated.