Shloka 23

Devanagari script

शठ: स्वधर्ममुत्सूज्य तमिच्छेदुपजीवितुम्‌ । सर्वोपायैर्निहन्तव्य: पापो निकृतिजीवन:

Transliteration

śaṭhaḥ svadharmam utsṛjya tam icched upajīvitum | sarvopāyair nihantavyaḥ pāpo nikṛtijīvanaḥ ||

Translation

Sinabi ni Bhīṣma: “Ang mapanlinlang na taong tumatalikod sa sariling wastong tungkulin (svadharma) at naghahangad mabuhay sa pamamagitan ng panlilinlang na iyon ay isang makasalanang nabubuhay sa pandaraya. Ang gayong tao ay dapat supilin sa lahat ng paraan.”

Word by Word

शठःa rogue, deceitful man

स्वधर्मम्one's own duty

उत्सृज्यhaving abandoned

तम्him

इच्छेत्should wish

उपजीवितुम्to live by (subsist on)

सर्वोपायैःby all means/methods

निहन्तव्यःmust be slain/killed

पापःsinful, wicked

निकृतिजीवनःone who lives by deceit/treachery

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One must not abandon svadharma to survive through deception; a livelihood based on fraud is condemned as sinful, and the ruler/society is urged to suppress such predatory conduct decisively for the protection of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on governance and moral order, Bhīṣma advises the king on dealing with harmful social types; here he identifies the deceitful person who lives by trickery and prescribes firm punitive action to prevent the spread of adharma.