Dasyu-maryādā and Buddhi-guided Rāja-nīti (दस्युमर्यादा तथा बुद्धिप्रधान-राजनीति)
सहसंजातवृद्धस्य तथैव सहभोजिन: । शरणागतस्य च वधस्त्रिविधं होव पातकम्
saha-saṃjāta-vṛddhasya tathaiva saha-bhojinaḥ | śaraṇāgatasya ca vadhas trividhaṃ hova pātakam ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Ang pagpatay sa taong kasabay mong isinilang at pinalaki, kasalo mo sa pagkain at pakikisama, at dumulog sa iyo upang magkanlong—ang gayong pagpatay ay ipinahahayag na tatluhang kasalanan. Sa pananaw ng dharma, nilalabag nito ang bigkis ng sabayang pagpapalaki, ang bigkis ng pinagsaluhang pagkain, at ang banal na tungkuling ipagtanggol ang dumudulog para sa kanlungan.”
भीष्म उवाच
Bhishma teaches that killing a person bound to you by intimate social and moral ties—shared birth/upbringing, shared food, and especially refuge—constitutes a compounded (threefold) moral transgression, because it breaks multiple layers of dharma: loyalty, hospitality, and the duty to protect the surrendered.
In the Shanti Parva’s dharma-instruction, Bhishma is laying down ethical rules for conduct. Here he specifies a grave prohibition: the slaying of a close associate and a refuge-seeker is not a single fault but a triple pātaka, emphasizing the heightened culpability when trust and protection are violated.