Shloka 12
Dasyu-maryādā and Buddhi-guided Rāja-nīti (दस्युमर्यादा तथा बुद्धिप्रधान-राजनीति)
ददर्श त॑ पक्षिसुतं बाल्यादागत्य बालक: । ततो बाल्याच्च यत्नेन तेनाक्रीडत पक्षिणा
dadārśa taṁ pakṣi-sutaṁ bālyād āgatya bālakaḥ | tato bālyāc ca yatnena tenākrīḍata pakṣiṇā ||
ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ— ਉਹ ਨਿੱਕਾ ਬਾਲਕ ਬਚਪਨ ਦੀ ਜਿਗਿਆਸਾ ਨਾਲ ਅੱਗੇ ਆ ਕੇ ਪੰਛੀ ਦੇ ਬੱਚੇ ਨੂੰ ਵੇਖਣ ਲੱਗਾ। ਫਿਰ ਬਾਲ-ਸੁਭਾਉ ਦੇ ਵੇਗ ਨਾਲ ਉਹ ਯਤਨ ਕਰਕੇ ਉਸ ਪੰਛੀ ਨਾਲ ਖੇਡਣ ਲੱਗ ਪਿਆ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even ordinary, seemingly harmless actions—like a child playing with a small creature—carry ethical weight. The episode points toward cultivating care, restraint, and compassion, especially toward beings that are weak and dependent.
A young boy notices a fledgling/young bird and, driven by childish curiosity, approaches it and begins to play with it attentively. The focus is on the natural impulse of childhood and how it becomes a setting for learning gentleness and responsibility.