Shloka 38
Jaitrya-nimitta: Signs of Prospective Victory and the Priority of Conciliation (जयलक्षण-निमित्त तथा सान्त्व-प्रधान नीति)
को देखा | च यत् कुर्युरपराधिन: । क्रोशेद् बाहुं प्रगृह्मापि चिकीर्षन् जनसंग्रहम्
ko dṛṣṭvā ca yat kuryur aparādhinaḥ | krośed bāhuṃ pragṛhya api cikīrṣan jana-saṅgraham ||
Sinabi ni Bhīṣma: “Pagmasdan kung ano ang karaniwang ginagawa ng may sala, at gawin din iyon: sa pagnanais na mapanig ang loob ng madla, sumigaw at umiyak nang malakas, kahit pa nakahawak sa bisig ng iba, at magpakita ng pinalabis na dalamhati. Gayon din, kapag ang mga mandirigma sa sariling panig—mga pumatay sa kaaway—ay napatay o nasugatan, ipagluksa ang kanilang pagkawala na parang ikaw ay nagkasala, humagulhol at managhoy upang mahila ang simpatiya ng bayan sa iyong panig.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights a tactic of rajaniti: to secure jana-saṅgraha (public support), a ruler or leader may outwardly display intense grief and sympathy—sometimes performatively—so that the people’s sentiment turns in his favor. The verse points to how public emotion can be managed, raising ethical tension between genuine compassion and calculated display.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on governance and political conduct. Here he describes how, after losses among one’s own warriors, a leader might publicly lament—crying aloud and taking someone by the arm—to create solidarity and shape public perception, much like wrongdoers who dramatize remorse to influence others.