Shloka 28
Satya–Anṛta Viveka (Discrimination between Truth and Falsehood) | सत्य–अनृत विवेकः
स्वकर्मणा हतं हन्ति हत एव स हन्यते । तेषु यः: समयं कश्रिद् कुर्वीत हतबुद्धिषु
svakarmaṇā hataṃ hanti hata eva sa hanyate | teṣu yaḥ samayaṃ kaścid kurvīta hatabuddhiṣu ||
Bhīṣma disse: “O homem mata aquele que já foi abatido por seus próprios atos, e ele mesmo—já abatido—acaba por ser morto. Por isso, entre os que têm o juízo arruinado, quem tenta firmar um pacto ou um acordo age sem verdadeiro discernimento.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma frames violence and downfall as driven by one’s own karma: people become ‘already struck’ by their deeds, and then external agents merely complete what karma has set in motion. Hence, making agreements with those whose judgment is corrupted (hatabuddhi) is unreliable and ethically unsound.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, governance, and moral reasoning after the war. Here he cautions about the futility/danger of seeking settlements with persons whose discernment is destroyed, emphasizing karmic causality behind ruin and conflict.