Shloka 21
चिरकारि-उपाख्यानम् / The Exemplum of Cirakārī: Deliberation Before Irreversible Action
यो<न्यस्य स्यादुपपति: स कं किं वक्तुमरहति । यदन्यस्य तत: कुर्यान्न मृष्येदिति मे मति:
yo 'nyasya syād upapatiḥ sa kaṃ kiṃ vaktum arhati | yad anyasya tataḥ kuryān na mṛṣyed iti me matiḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «L’homme qui devient l’amant d’autrui—qui commet l’adultère avec l’épouse d’un autre—n’a aucune légitimité pour admonester qui que ce soit. S’il blâmait un autre pour la conduite même qu’il pratique, il ne pourrait supporter le blâme qui, à bon droit, retomberait sur lui ; telle est ma conviction.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral authority depends on personal conduct: one who himself commits adultery cannot credibly condemn the same fault in others, and such hypocrisy rebounds as unbearable reproach.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, Bhishma offers a pointed ethical maxim: a person engaged in illicit relations lacks the standing to judge or lecture others for similar behavior.