Shloka 131
चिरकारि-उपाख्यानम् / The Exemplum of Cirakārī: Deliberation Before Irreversible Action
अपि पापकृतो रौद्रा: सत्यं कृत्वा पृथक् पृथक् । अद्रोहमविसंवादं प्रवर्तन्ते तदाश्रया:
api pāpakṛto raudrāḥ satyaṃ kṛtvā pṛthak pṛthak | adroham avisaṃvādaṃ pravartante tadāśrayāḥ ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Bahkan orang yang berdosa dan garang sekalipun, apabila menjadikan kebenaran sebagai aturan penuntun—masing-masing dalam lingkupnya—akan terdorong untuk hidup dengan tidak mencederakan dan dengan kesetiaan (tanpa tipu daya), dipelihara oleh pegangan itu sendiri.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Truthfulness (satya) is presented as a foundational discipline: when one genuinely adopts truth as a guiding principle, it naturally supports other virtues such as non-hostility (adroha) and freedom from deceit or breach of trust (avisaṃvāda), even in people inclined to wrongdoing or harshness.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma is teaching about ethical conduct and inner reform. Here he emphasizes that commitment to truth can restrain violent or sinful tendencies and stabilize behavior in society through reliability and non-injury.