Shloka 21

Dāyavibhāga (Inheritance Apportionment) and Household Precedence — Dialogue of Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīṣma

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच यत्‌ किंचित्‌ कर्म मानुष्यं संस्थानाय प्रदृश्यते । मन्त्रवन्मन्त्रितं तस्थ मृषावादस्तु पातक:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca yat kiñcit karma mānuṣyaṃ saṃsthānāya pradṛśyate | mantravanmantritaṃ tastha mṛṣāvādastu pātakaḥ ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ക്രമവും സ്ഥിരതയും സ്ഥാപിക്കാനായി മനുഷ്യർ ചെയ്യുന്ന ഏതു പ്രവർത്തിയും, അത് മന്ത്രണപോലെ രഹസ്യമായും ആലോചിച്ചും ചെയ്തതായാലും—അസത്യവാക്ക് പാപം തന്നെയാണ്.

Word by Word

भीष्मःBhishma

उवाचsaid

यत्whatever/that which

किञ्चित्any (at all), something

कर्मact, deed

मानुष्यम्human

संस्थानायfor establishment/maintenance (of order)

प्रदृश्यतेis seen/appears

मन्त्रवत्as if (it were) a mantra; with mantra-like force

मन्त्रितम्counselled/consulted; deliberated

तस्थेstood/was established

मृषावादःfalse speech, lying

तुbut/indeed

पातकःa sin, sinful (act)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when an action is aimed at establishing social order and is carefully planned in counsel, speaking falsehood remains morally blameworthy; the end does not automatically sanctify the means of lying.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma is instructing on dharma, emphasizing ethical limits within statecraft and deliberation: policy may be planned in secret counsel, but deliberate falsehood is still counted as a pātaka (sin).