Mahabharata 1.140.76 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 140, Shloka 76
Hiḍimba’s Approach and Hiḍimbā’s Warning to Bhīmasena (हिडिम्बागमनम् / हिडिम्बा-भयवचनम्)
मन्त्रसंवरणे यत्न: सदा कार्योडनसूयता । आकारमभिरक्षेत चारेणाप्यनुपालित:
mantrasaṃvaraṇe yatnaḥ sadā kāryo 'n asūyatā | ākāram abhirakṣet cāreṇāpy anupālitaḥ ||
राजाने द्वेष-ईर्ष्या न ठेवता नेहमीच आपली गुप्त मंत्रणा लपविण्याचा प्रयत्न करावा. क्रोध-हर्ष दर्शविणाऱ्या हावभावांचीही राखण करावी, जेणेकरून गुप्तचरांना ते कळू नयेत; आणि आपल्या गुप्तचऱ्यांपासूनही गुप्त नीति सतत सुरक्षित ठेवावी।
कणिक उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must practice disciplined secrecy: protect confidential counsel, restrain outward emotional signals that can be read by observers, and maintain safeguards so that even one’s own intelligence network cannot fully penetrate the king’s inner deliberations.
In Kaṇika’s discourse on kingship and political strategy, he instructs the king on how to preserve the confidentiality of policy-making—warning that spies and even one’s own agents may exploit visible cues or leaked counsel.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.