Shloka 183
हन्तव्यो5यं मम मतिर्भवद्धिरिति राक्षसा: | 'राक्षसो! यह पापाचारी, पापकर्मा और पापात्मा है। इसके सारे साधन पापमय हैं; अतः तुम्हें इसका वध कर देना चाहिये, यही मेरा मत है”
hantavyo ’yaṃ mama matir bhavadbhir iti rākṣasāḥ |
Bhishma said: “This one ought to be slain—such is my considered judgment, O Rakshasas. He is a sinner in conduct, sinful in deeds, and sinful in nature; all his means and resources are tainted by wrongdoing. Therefore you should put him to death.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames punitive violence as a dharmic obligation when a person is thoroughly corrupt in conduct, action, and intent, and when their very means are rooted in wrongdoing; Bhishma presents execution as a justified remedy to protect moral order.
Bhishma addresses a group of Rakshasas and gives a decisive opinion: the person under discussion is characterized as wholly sinful, so Bhishma advises them that he should be killed.