Shloka 38
Jaitrya-nimitta: Signs of Prospective Victory and the Priority of Conciliation (जयलक्षण-निमित्त तथा सान्त्व-प्रधान नीति)
को देखा | च यत् कुर्युरपराधिन: । क्रोशेद् बाहुं प्रगृह्मापि चिकीर्षन् जनसंग्रहम्
ko dṛṣṭvā ca yat kuryur aparādhinaḥ | krośed bāhuṃ pragṛhya api cikīrṣan jana-saṅgraham ||
Bhishma berkata, “Apa yang lazim dilakukan orang bersalah demi menghimpun dukungan rakyat, hendaknya dilakukan pula: untuk menarik opini umum, ia menangis keras sambil menggenggam lengan seseorang dan meratap. Demikian juga, bila para kesatria di pihaknya—para pembunuh musuh—gugur atau terluka, ia harus meratapi kerugian itu seolah-olah ia sendiri bersalah, agar simpati rakyat berpihak kepadanya.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights a tactic of rajaniti: to secure jana-saṅgraha (public support), a ruler or leader may outwardly display intense grief and sympathy—sometimes performatively—so that the people’s sentiment turns in his favor. The verse points to how public emotion can be managed, raising ethical tension between genuine compassion and calculated display.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on governance and political conduct. Here he describes how, after losses among one’s own warriors, a leader might publicly lament—crying aloud and taking someone by the arm—to create solidarity and shape public perception, much like wrongdoers who dramatize remorse to influence others.