Shloka 32

Chapter 81: Trust, Allies, and the Qualifications of the King’s Artha-Secretary (अर्थसचिव)

Devanagari script

ज्ञातिभ्यश्चैव बुद्धयेथा मृत्योरिव भयं सदा । उपराजेव राजर्धि ज्ञातिर्न सहते सदा

Transliteration

jñātibhyaś caiva buddhyethā mṛtyor iva bhayaṃ sadā | uparājeva rājarṣi jñātir na sahate sadā, yudhiṣṭhira ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「ユディシュティラよ、己が親族に対しては常に用心深く、死を恐れる人々のごとく彼らを恐れて慎め。隣国の王が、隣り合う王の隆盛と繁栄を耐えがたく思うように、親族もまた、他の親族の出世をしばしば堪え忍べぬものだからである。」

Word by Word

• {'jñātibhyaḥ': 'from/with regard to kinsmen, relatives', 'ca eva': 'and indeed, certainly', 'buddhyethāḥ (buddhyethā)': 'you should be wise/alert

• you should understand and act with discernment', 'mṛtyoḥ iva': 'like death

• as (one fears) death', 'bhayam': 'fear, apprehension', 'sadā': 'always, continually', 'uparāja-iva (uparājeva)': 'like a neighboring king', 'rājarṣi': 'royal sage (epithet of Yudhiṣṭhira)', 'jñātiḥ': 'a kinsman/relative (as a rival within the family)', 'na sahate': 'does not tolerate, cannot endure', 'abhyudaya (implied by sense)': 'rise, prosperity, advancement'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• jñāti (kinsmen/relatives)
• uparāja (neighboring king)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma warns that rivalry and jealousy can arise even among one’s own relatives; therefore a ruler should remain discerning and cautious, not assuming goodwill merely because of kinship.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma offers practical counsel on governance and social realities, using the analogy of neighboring kings to explain how relatives may resent each other’s prosperity.