Shloka 13
Nīti-upadeśa to a Rājaputra: Self-restraint, Alliances, and Rival-Management (नीतिउपदेशः)
पक्षिणो मृगजातानि रसगन्धा: फलानि च । तेष्वेव सज्जयेथास्त्वं यथा नश्यत्वयं पर:
pakṣiṇo mṛgajātāni rasagandhāḥ phalāni ca | teṣv eva sajjayethās tvaṃ yathā naśyaty ayaṃ paraḥ ||
पक्षिणो मृगजातानि रसगन्धाः फलानि च । तेष्वेव सज्जयेथास्त्वं यथा नश्यत्वयं परः ॥ शनैः क्षीयेत वित्तेन बलं चास्य परस्य वै । स्वयमेव विनश्येत भोगासक्तो हि शत्रुरिति ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches a rāja-nīti tactic: instead of open confrontation, weaken an enemy by cultivating his addiction to costly pleasures (luxury goods, entertainments, and indulgences) so that he exhausts his resources and collapses from within.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs the prince on governance and strategy. Here he recommends a method of neutralizing an adversary by redirecting the enemy’s mind toward indulgence—birds, animals, delicacies, perfumes, and fruits—so the enemy becomes financially and morally enfeebled and is ruined without direct battle.