Shloka 57
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
छिन्दन् भिन्दन् रुजन् कृन्तन् दारयन् पोथयन्नपि
chindan bhindan rujan kṛntan dārayan pothayann api
Bhīṣma dit : «Même en tranchant, fendant, broyant, tailladant, déchirant et frappant—actes qui disent la rudesse de la violence—il faut saisir le poids moral de tels gestes et la discipline requise pour les contenir dans les limites du dharma.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse strings together verbs of injury to foreground the reality of violence; in Śānti Parva this typically serves to frame an ethical discussion: even when force is employed, it must be governed by dharma, restraint, and accountability rather than impulse or cruelty.
Bhīṣma, instructing in Śānti Parva, uses a rapid list of violent actions—cutting, splitting, crushing, hacking, tearing, striking—as a rhetorical buildup, likely leading into guidance about the limits, consequences, or regulation of harmful acts within righteous conduct.