Shloka 10
मृत्यु-काल-प्रबोधनम् (Instruction on Mortality, Time, and Truth) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 169
दुःशीलो5थाकृतात्मा च नृशंस: कितवस्तथा । मित्रैरपकृतिर्नित्यमिच्छते<र्थ परस्य य:
duḥśīlo ’thākṛtātmā ca nṛśaṁsaḥ kitavas tathā | mitrair apakṛtir nityam icchate ’rthaṁ parasya yaḥ ||
Bhīṣma disse: “Aquele que é de maus modos e sem disciplina, cruel e traiçoeiro, jogador, que constantemente prejudica os amigos e está sempre ávido por tomar a riqueza alheia—com tal homem jamais se deve entrar em aliança. Do mesmo modo, quem por hábito procura as faltas dos outros é impróprio para pactos. Agora descreverei os que são aptos para a aliança; ouvi.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that alliances and friendships must be grounded in character: one should never make a pact with a cruel, undisciplined, deceitful person who harms friends and covets others’ wealth, nor with someone who habitually hunts for faults—because such people are structurally unreliable and dangerous.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and conduct, Bhīṣma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira on practical ethics and polity: he first lists the kinds of people unfit for alliance, and then signals that he will next describe those who are fit for making agreements.