Shloka 15
Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)
तेन विप्रकृता: सर्वे राजयुक्ता: कुरूद्वह । तमस्यभिप्रसुप्तस्य निशि काकमवेधयन्,कुरुश्रेष्ठ! इस प्रकार मुनिके द्वारा तिरस्कृत हुए सभी राजकर्मचारियोंने अँधेरी रातमें सोये हुए मुनिके उस कौएको बाणसे बींधकर मार डाला
tena viprakṛtāḥ sarve rājayuktāḥ kurūdvaha | tamasy abhiprasuptasya niśi kākam avedhayan ||
Bhishma berkata: “Wahai banteng di antara kaum Kuru, semua pegawai raja, setelah dihina oleh resi itu, pada kegelapan malam memanah gagak yang sedang tidur, lalu membunuhnya.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Humiliation and wounded pride can provoke disproportionate retaliation; dharma requires restraint and discernment, especially for those connected with royal authority, because impulsive violence quickly becomes adharma.
After being slighted by a sage, the king’s attendants act at night in the dark and shoot a sleeping crow with an arrow, killing it—an act presented as a morally blameworthy response born from resentment.