Shloka 30
Daṇḍotpatti-kathana (Origin and Function of Daṇḍa) — वसुहोम–मान्धातृ संवाद
अनुतं ज्ञानिता सत्यं श्रद्धाश्रद्धे तथैव च | क्लीबता व्यवसायक्षु लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ
bhīṣma uvāca | anṛtaṃ jñānitā satyaṃ śraddhāśraddhe tathaiva ca | klībatā vyavasāyaś ca lābhālābhau jayājayau |
भीष्म उवाच—असत्यं सत्यं च ज्ञाननिश्चिते, श्रद्धाश्रद्धे तथैव च। क्लीबता च व्यवसायश्च, लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ—एते चान्ये च बहवो द्वन्द्वभावा दण्डस्यैव नानानामरूपाणि कथ्यन्ते। कुरुश्रेष्ठ, एवं लोके दण्डः असंख्यरूपेण प्रवर्तते, फलनियमेन धर्मव्यवस्थां च आचारनियमनं च करोति।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma frames the many opposites that govern human experience—truth/falsehood, faith/doubt, resolve/weakness, gain/loss, victory/defeat—as manifestations of daṇḍa: the regulating principle of restraint and consequence that sustains social and moral order.
In the Shanti Parva dialogue, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on statecraft and dharma. Here he emphasizes that daṇḍa is not merely physical punishment but a pervasive ordering force seen through the paired outcomes and conditions that shape behavior in the world.