Shloka 11
नृशंस-लक्षणनिर्णयः | Determining the Marks of Cruel Conduct
Nṛśaṃsa
वैरं न कुर्वीत नरो दुर्बुद्धिर्बुद्धिजीविना । बुद्धिर्बुद्धिमतो याति तृणेष्विव हुताशन:
vairaṁ na kurvīta naro durbuddhir buddhijīvinā | buddhiḥ buddhimato yāti tṛṇeṣv iva hutāśanaḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「愚かな者は、智慧によって生きる者と怨みを結んではならぬ。賢者の知は、枯れ草を走る火のように四方へ広がり、愚者の予想をはるかに超えて及ぶからである。」
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not cultivate enmity with a truly wise person: their discernment, influence, and capacity to respond extends widely and swiftly, so hostility toward them is both unethical and self-destructive.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct after the war, Bhishma delivers practical moral counsel, warning against provoking the wise and illustrating their far-reaching intelligence through the image of fire spreading through dry grass.