Shloka 23
Satya–Anṛta Viveka (Discrimination between Truth and Falsehood) | सत्य–अनृत विवेकः
शठ: स्वधर्ममुत्सूज्य तमिच्छेदुपजीवितुम् । सर्वोपायैर्निहन्तव्य: पापो निकृतिजीवन:
śaṭhaḥ svadharmam utsṛjya tam icched upajīvitum | sarvopāyair nihantavyaḥ pāpo nikṛtijīvanaḥ ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Orang licik yang meninggalkan svadharma-nya dan hendak mencari nafkah dengan tipu daya itu adalah pendosa yang hidup dari penipuan. Orang seperti itu patut ditundukkan dengan segala cara.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One must not abandon svadharma to survive through deception; a livelihood based on fraud is condemned as sinful, and the ruler/society is urged to suppress such predatory conduct decisively for the protection of dharma.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on governance and moral order, Bhīṣma advises the king on dealing with harmful social types; here he identifies the deceitful person who lives by trickery and prescribes firm punitive action to prevent the spread of adharma.