Shloka 4

Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma

Devanagari script

असाधुभ्यो<र्थमादाय साधुभ्यो य: प्रयच्छति । आत्मानं संक्रमं कृत्वा कृच्छूधर्मविदेव सः,जो अपनेको सेतु बनाकर दुष्ट पुरुषोंसे धन लेकर श्रेष्ठ पुरुषोंको देता है, वह आपद्धर्मका ज्ञाता है

Transliteration

Bhīṣma uvāca: asādhubhyo 'rtham ādāya sādhubhyo yaḥ prayacchati | ātmānaṃ saṅkramaṃ kṛtvā kṛcchradharmavideva saḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma berkata: “Ia yang mengambil harta dari orang-orang jahat lalu memberikannya kepada orang-orang berbudi—menjadikan dirinya ‘jembatan’ bagi perpindahan itu—dialah yang sungguh mengetahui dharma pada masa kesusahan (āpaddharma).”

Word by Word

असाधुभ्यःfrom the wicked (persons)

अर्थम्wealth, money

आदायhaving taken

साधुभ्यःto the good (persons)

यःwho

प्रयच्छतिgives, bestows

आत्मानम्oneself

संक्रमम्a crossing, bridge, causeway

कृत्वाhaving made

कृच्छ्रधर्मविद्knower of distress-dharma (āpaddharma)

एवindeed, just

सःhe

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

In extraordinary distress (āpaddharma), actions normally questionable—like taking wealth—can be ethically justified if directed against the wicked and used to protect and support the virtuous. The emphasis is on intention, target (the unrighteous), and outcome (sustaining the righteous), framed as a difficult but dharmic choice.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma, instructing on dharma in the Shanti Parva, explains a principle of conduct for crisis situations: a person may act as a ‘bridge’ (saṅkrama) by transferring resources from harmful people to good people, and such discernment marks one as knowledgeable in the hard law of emergency ethics.