Shloka 34

Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)

Devanagari script

न च मेउत्र भवान्‌ गह्यों न च येषां भवान्‌ प्रिय: । हिताहितांस्तु बुद्धयेथा मा परोक्षमतिर्भवे:

Transliteration

na ca me 'tra bhavān gāhyo na ca yeṣāṃ bhavān priyaḥ | hitāhitāṃs tu buddhyethā mā parokṣamatir bhaveḥ ||

Translation

ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਇੱਥੇ ਮੈਂ ਨਾ ਤੇਰੀ ਨਿੰਦਾ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ, ਨਾ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਤੂੰ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਹੈਂ। ਮੇਰੀ ਗੱਲ ਕੇਵਲ ਇਹ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਤੂੰ ਆਪ ਹੀ ਹਿਤ-ਅਹਿਤ ਨੂੰ ਪਛਾਣ; ਤੇਰੀ ਬੁੱਧੀ ਪਰੋਖ ਨਾ ਰਹੇ—ਹਰ ਕੰਮ ਆਪਣੀਆਂ ਅੱਖਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਵੇਖ ਅਤੇ ਸਿਰਫ਼ ਹੋਰਾਂ ਦੀ ਦੇਖ-ਭਾਲ ਉੱਤੇ ਭਰੋਸਾ ਨਾ ਕਰ।

Word by Word

• {'na ca': 'and not

• nor', 'me': 'to me

• by me', 'atra': 'here

• in this matter', 'bhavān': 'you (honorific)', 'gāhyaḥ': 'to be censured/blamed

• to be reproached', 'yeṣām': 'of whom

• of those whose', 'priyaḥ': 'dear

• beloved', 'hitāhitān': 'the beneficial and the harmful

• welfare and non-welfare', 'tu': 'but

• indeed', 'buddhyethāḥ': 'you should understand/discern (2nd person optative/imperative sense)', 'mā': 'do not', 'parokṣa-matiḥ': 'an indirect/second-hand understanding

• mediated judgment', 'bhaveḥ': 'may you be

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• bhavān (the addressed interlocutor, unnamed in the verse)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma urges direct discernment: one should personally distinguish benefit from harm (hita vs. ahita) and avoid relying on second-hand judgment or merely trusting others to manage one’s affairs.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhishma addresses the listener with counsel. He clarifies that he is not blaming the person or their associates; rather, he is advising careful, firsthand evaluation of actions and consequences in the pursuit of right conduct.