Shloka 23
Nīti-upadeśa to a Rājaputra: Self-restraint, Alliances, and Rival-Management (नीतिउपदेशः)
ततो गच्छसि सिद्धार्थ:पीड्यमानं महाजनम् | योगधर्मविदं पुण्यं कंचिदस्योपवर्णयेत्
tato gacchasi siddhārthaḥ pīḍyamānaṁ mahājanam | yogadharmavidaṁ puṇyaṁ kaṁcid asyopavarṇayet ||
ビーシュマは言った。「そののち、おまえは目的を成就して立ち去るであろう。次いで、あの王の前で、圧政に苦しむ民衆の嘆きを語り、またヨーガのダルマを知る徳ある者の栄光を称えよ。その描写によって、敵王は国を捨てようと思い立つかもしれぬ。（だが、もし彼が本性のままに揺るがず、離欲が起こらぬなら、おまえの任じた者どもを通じて、万敵を滅ぼすと伝えられる成就した薬術を用い、敵の象・馬・兵を死に至らしめよ。）」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma frames a strategy of moral persuasion: first move a hostile ruler by showing the suffering of the people and by praising a virtuous exemplar of yoga-dharma, so that renunciation or restraint may arise. The passage also reflects the tension in raja-dharma between ethical suasion and harsher measures when persuasion fails.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on governance and policy, Bhishma advises how to influence an enemy king: narrate public suffering and highlight the greatness of a righteous, disciplined person to induce the enemy to abandon his claim. The accompanying prose context (as in the provided Hindi) continues with an escalation plan if the king remains unmoved.