Shloka 15
Nīti-upadeśa to a Rājaputra: Self-restraint, Alliances, and Rival-Management (नीतिउपदेशः)
रमस्व परमामित्रे विषये प्राज्ञसम्मत: । भजस्व श्वेतकाकीयैर्मित्रधर्ममनर्थकै:ः
ramasva paramāmitre viṣaye prājñasammataḥ | bhajasva śvetakākīyair mitradharmam anarthakaiḥ ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Tinggallah dengan tenteram di sebuah wilayah yang bebas permusuhan dan diperkenan oleh orang bijaksana. Jangan bergaul dengan ‘persahabatan’ ala Śvetakāka—persahabatan yang akhirnya membawa kebinasaan dan tiada manfaat sejati.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Choose associations that are endorsed by the wise and conducive to peace; avoid forms of ‘friendship’ that are merely nominal and end in harm (anartha). True mitra-dharma is measured by benefit, loyalty, and ethical steadiness—not by outward claims.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and prudent conduct. Here he advises living in a secure, non-hostile sphere and warns against aligning with a deceptive or ruinous type of companion, exemplified by the proverbial ‘Śvetakāka’.