Shloka 31
Daṇḍotpatti-kathana (Origin and Function of Daṇḍa) — वसुहोम–मान्धातृ संवाद
तीक्ष्णता मृदुता मृत्युरागमानागमौ तथा । विरोधश्चाविरोधश्व् कार्याकार्ये बलाबले
bhīṣma uvāca | tīkṣṇatā mṛdutā mṛtyur āgamānāgamau tathā | virodhaś cāvirodhaś ca kāryākārye balābale | arthānarthau sukha-duḥkhe dharmādharmau balābale | daurbhāgya-saubhāgye puṇya-pāpe guṇāvaguṇau kāmākāmau | ṛtu-māsau dina-rātrau kṣaṇaḥ pramādāpramādau harṣa-krodhau śama-damau | daiva-puruṣārthau bandha-mokṣau bhayābhaye hiṃsāhiṃse tapa-yajñau saṃyamaḥ | viṣāviṣe ādy-anta-madhye kārya-vistāraḥ madaḥ asāvadhānatā darpaḥ dambhaḥ dhairyam | nītī-anītī śakty-aśaktī mānaḥ stabdhatā vyayāvyaye vinayaḥ dānam | kālākālau satyāsatye jñānaṃ śraddhāśraddhe akarmaṇyatā udyogaḥ | lābhahānī jayaparājayau tīkṣṇatā-mṛdutā mṛtyuḥ ānā-jānaṃ virodhāvirodhau | kartavyākartavye sabalatā-nirbalatā asūyānasūye dharmādharmau lajjālajje | sampatti-vipattī sthānaṃ tejaḥ karma pāṇḍityaṃ vāk-śaktiḥ tathā tattva-bodhaḥ—ete sarve daṇḍasyaiva nāma-rūpāṇi bahūni | kurunandana! evaṃ jagati daṇḍasya bahavo rūpāṇi ||
भीष्म उवाच—तीक्ष्णता मृदुता मृत्युरागमानागमौ तथा। विरोधश्चाविरोधश्च कार्याकार्ये बलाबले—कुरुनन्दन, एते सर्वे तथा लाभालाभौ सुखदुःखे धर्माधर्मौ च, पुण्यपापे गुणावगुणौ, कामाकामौ च—दण्डस्यैव नानानामरूपाणि। एवं लोके दण्डः असंख्यरूपेण दृश्यते।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that daṇḍa—understood as the principle of restraint, correction, and governance—pervades worldly life. The many opposites (gentle/harsh, gain/loss, dharma/adharma, vigilance/heedlessness, etc.) are presented as diverse manifestations through which order is maintained and conduct is shaped.
In the Śānti Parva dialogue on kingship and ethics, Bhishma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira. Here he enumerates a long series of paired conditions and moral-psychological states to show that the king’s instrument of rule—daṇḍa—operates across all domains of life, not merely as physical punishment but as a comprehensive framework of regulation and discernment.