Shloka 18

Devanagari script

स्वशरीरोपरोधेन धनमादातुमिच्छत: । सत्यसम्प्रतिपत्त्यर्थ यद्‌ ब्रूयु: साक्षिण: क्वचित्‌

Transliteration

svaśarīroparodhenā dhanam ādātum icchataḥ | satyasampratipattyarthaṃ yad brūyuḥ sākṣiṇaḥ kvacit ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—സ്വന്തം ശരീരംകൊണ്ട് തടസ്സം സൃഷ്ടിച്ച് മറ്റൊരാളുടെ ധനം പിടിച്ചെടുക്കാൻ ഒരാൾ ശ്രമിക്കുമ്പോൾ, സത്യം സ്ഥാപിക്കേണ്ടതിനായി അത്തരം സാഹചര്യത്തിൽ സാക്ഷികൾ പറയേണ്ടത് പറയാം.

Word by Word

स्वby/with one's own

शरीरbody

उपरोधेनby obstruction/constraint

धनम्wealth

आदातुम्to take/appropriate

इच्छतःof one who desires

सत्यof truth

सम्प्रतिपत्तिfor ascertainment/establishment

अर्थम्purpose

यत्what/that which

ब्रूयुःthey might say

साक्षिणःwitnesses

क्वचित्somewhere/at some time

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

sākṣiṇaḥ (witnesses)

dhanam (wealth/property)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma emphasizes that witness testimony is justified and should be directed toward establishing truth, especially in situations where someone attempts to wrongfully seize property through coercive obstruction; the ethical priority is satya (truth) as the basis of justice.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s dharma-instruction context, Bhīṣma is outlining principles of adjudication and social order, describing a scenario of coercion over wealth and indicating how witnesses should speak so that the truth of the matter is properly determined.