Shloka 10
Chapter 81: Trust, Allies, and the Qualifications of the King’s Artha-Secretary (अर्थसचिव)
एकान्तेन हि विश्वास: कृत्स्नो धर्मार्थनाशक: । अविश्वासश्च सर्वत्र मृत्युना च विशिष्यते,किसीपर भी किया हुआ अत्यन्त विश्वास धर्म और अर्थ दोनोंका नाश करनेवाला होता है और सर्वत्र अविश्वास करना भी मृत्युसे बढ़कर है
ekāntena hi viśvāsaḥ kṛtsno dharmārthanāśakaḥ | aviśvāsaś ca sarvatra mṛtyunā ca viśiṣyate ||
भीष्म उवाच—एकान्तेन हि विश्वासः कृत्स्नो धर्मार्थनाशकः। अविश्वासश्च सर्वत्र मृत्युना च विशिष्यते; तस्मात् पण्डिताः अन्धविश्वासं सर्वशङ्कां च परित्यज्य मध्यममार्गं चरन्ति।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Avoid extremes: blind, total trust can destroy both moral standing (dharma) and practical well-being (artha), but universal distrust is even more ruinous. Discernment and measured confidence are the ethical mean.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance after the war. Here he offers a practical moral warning about how trust and suspicion affect one’s life, relationships, and stability.