Shloka 161

आपद्धर्मनिर्णयः — विश्वामित्र-श्वपचसंवादः

Apaddharma Determination: Dialogue of Viśvāmitra and the Śvapaca

Devanagari script

पुनश्च रिपुरद्यैव युक्तीनां पश्य चापलम्‌ । “मित्रता और शत्रुताके रूप तो बादलोंके समान क्षण-क्षणमें बदलते रहते हैं। आज ही तुम मेरे शत्रु होकर फिर आज ही मेरे मित्र हो सकते हो और उसके बाद आज ही पुनः शत्रु भी बन सकते हो। देखो, यह स्वार्थका सम्बन्ध कितना चंचल है? ।।

Transliteration

punaś ca ripur adyaiva yuktīnāṃ paśya cāpalam | āsīn maitrī tu tāvannau yāvad hetur abhūt purā ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「さらにまた、策の算段がいかに移ろいやすいかを見よ。人は今日敵となり、同じ今日のうちに友となり、また同じ今日のうちに再び敵ともなりうる。利に基づく結びつきがいかに不安定か、よく見よ。我らの友誼は、かつての原因が存する間だけ続いたのだ。」

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'punaḥ (punaś ca)', 'meaning': 'again

• moreover'}, {'term': 'ripuḥ', 'meaning': 'enemy'}, {'term': 'adyaiva', 'meaning': 'today itself

• this very day'}, {'term': 'yukti', 'meaning': 'device, stratagem

• policy, calculated means'}, {'term': 'yuktīnām', 'meaning': 'of policies/stratagems (genitive plural)'}, {'term': 'paśya', 'meaning': 'see

• observe (imperative)'}, {'term': 'cāpalam', 'meaning': 'fickleness, instability, inconstancy'}, {'term': 'āsīt', 'meaning': 'was

• existed'}, {'term': 'maitrī', 'meaning': 'friendship, alliance'}, {'term': 'tāvat', 'meaning': 'so long

• only up to that point'}, {'term': 'nau', 'meaning': 'of us two

• for the two of us (dual pronoun)'}, {'term': 'yāvat', 'meaning': 'as long as

• while'}, {'term': 'hetuḥ', 'meaning': 'cause, motive, reason'}, {'term': 'abhūt', 'meaning': 'came to be

• existed (aorist)'}, {'term': 'purā', 'meaning': 'formerly

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma warns that alliances based on expediency (yukti) and self-interest are inherently unstable: the same person can shift from enemy to friend and back again quickly. Therefore, one should not treat such relationships as enduring or morally reliable.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and polity, Bhishma is advising about the volatility of political relationships. He notes that friendship between parties lasts only as long as the motivating cause remains, emphasizing the changing nature of alliances.