Shloka 3
उपायधर्म-सेनायोगः
Upāya-dharma and Senāyoga: Expedient Ethics & Army Deployment
उपायधर्मान् वक्ष्यामि सिद्धार्थानर्थधर्मयो: । निर्मर्यादा दस्यवस्तु भवन्ति परिपन्थिन:
upāyadharmān vakṣyāmi siddhārthān arthadharmayoḥ | nirmaryādā dasyavas tu bhavanti paripanthinaḥ ||
Bhishma berkata: “Wahai Yudhisthira, akan kuuraikan disiplin-disiplin praktis (upaya-dharma) yang telah terbukti sebagai sarana meraih artha dan dharma. Bila para perampok yang tak mengenal batas melanggar tatanan artha dan dharma lalu menjadi penyamun jalanan, maka akan kujelaskan langkah-langkah yang disahkan Weda untuk mengekang dan membinasakan mereka. Dengarkan dariku upaya-upaya yang mendatangkan keberhasilan dalam segala urusan.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma frames governance as the protection of both artha (public welfare and stability) and dharma (moral-legal order), and introduces ‘upāya-dharma’—practical, result-tested measures that a ruler may employ, including sanctioned force, to restrain lawless disruptors.
In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira receives instruction from Bhīṣma on kingship and policy. Here Bhīṣma begins a section on pragmatic statecraft: how to deal with bandits and social predators who violate the bounds of dharma and artha.