Shloka 16
Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)
वायसं तु विनिर्भिन्न दृष्टया बाणेन पञ्जरे | पूर्वह्नि ब्राह्मणो वाक््यं क्षेमदर्शिनमब्रवीत्
vāyasaṃ tu vinirbhinnaṃ dṛṣṭyā bāṇena pañjare | pūrvāhṇi brāhmaṇo vākyaṃ kṣemadarśinam abravīt |
भीष्म उवाच—वायसं तु विनिर्भिन्नं दृष्ट्या बाणेन पञ्जरे । पूर्वाह्णे ब्राह्मणो वाक्यं क्षेमदर्शिनमब्रवीत् ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical contrast: harm can be inflicted even with precision and intent (“by sight alone”), and therefore counsel from a Brāhmaṇa to a welfare-seeking person is introduced—implying that right action requires guidance oriented to kṣema (the safety and well-being of beings), not merely skill or power.
Bhīṣma narrates an episode in which a crow confined in a cage is pierced by an arrow. Following this incident, during the forenoon a Brāhmaṇa speaks to a figure described as kṣemadarśin—someone concerned with protection and welfare—setting up the next portion of the story as moral instruction or counsel.