Shloka 51
Śaraṇāgatapālana—Prastāvanā
Protection of the Refuge-Seeker: Opening of the Kapota Narrative
“राजा मछलीमारोंकी भाँति दूसरोंके मर्म विदीर्ण किये बिना, अत्यन्त क्रूर कर्म किये बिना तथा बहुतोंके प्राण लिये बिना बड़ी भारी सम्पत्ति नहीं पा सकता है ।।
rājā matsyamārāṇāṃ bhāntī dūṣarāṇāṃ marma vidīrya vinā, atyanta-krūra-karmāṇi kṛtvā vinā tathā bahūnāṃ prāṇān ādāya vinā, bṛhatīṃ sampattiṃ na prāpnoti. nāsti jātyā ripur nāma mitraṃ vāpi na vidyate; sāmarthya-yogāj jāyante mitrāṇi ripavas tathā.
Disse Bhīṣma: Um rei não pode obter vasta riqueza sem, como os pescadores, perfurar os pontos vulneráveis dos outros—sem praticar atos extremamente cruéis e sem tirar muitas vidas. Ninguém é inimigo ou amigo apenas por nascimento; pela conjunção do poder e das circunstâncias, surgem as amizades, e assim também as inimizades.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma presents a hard-edged lesson of rāja-nīti: great royal wealth and expansion often involve coercion and harm, and political friendship or enmity is not fixed by birth but formed by power, advantage, and circumstance.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on governance after the war. Here he explains the grim realities of statecraft—how rulers secure resources and how alliances and rivalries shift according to strength and situational alignment.