Shloka 36
Chapter 81: Trust, Allies, and the Qualifications of the King’s Artha-Secretary (अर्थसचिव)
आत्मानमेव जानाति निकृतं बान्धवैरपि । तेषु सन्ति गुणाश्रैव नैर्गुण्यं चैव लक्ष्यते
ātmānam eva jānāti nikṛtaṃ bāndhavair api | teṣu santi guṇāś caiva nairguṇyaṃ caiva lakṣyate ||
आत्मानमेव जानाति निकृतं बान्धवैरपि। तेषु सन्ति गुणाश्चैव नैर्गुण्यं चैव लक्ष्यते॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even within one’s own family, both virtue and vice are present; harm done by relatives is still harm, and dharma requires clear-eyed discernment rather than excusing wrongdoing because of kinship.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on righteous conduct and social ethics; here he remarks on the reality of family life—kinsmen can both support and injure, and their qualities and defects become visible in close relations.