Shloka 19
Chapter 81: Trust, Allies, and the Qualifications of the King’s Artha-Secretary (अर्थसचिव)
क्षताद् भीतं विजानीयादुत्तमं मित्रलक्षणम् | ये तस्य क्षतमिच्छन्ति ते तस्य रिपव: स्मृता:
kṣatād bhītaṃ vijānīyād uttamaṃ mitralakṣaṇam | ye tasya kṣatam icchanti te tasya ripavaḥ smṛtāḥ ||
Wika ni Bhishma: Ang pinakamataas na tanda ng tunay na kaibigan ay yaong nanginginig sa takot kapag may pangambang masugatan o malugi ang kanyang kapanig. Ang mga nagnanais ng kapahamakan niya ay itinuturing na kanyang mga kaaway. Sa usaping panghari, ang kaibigan ay yaong nagsisikap—lalo na sa mga gawain ng dharma—na iligtas ang pinuno sa pagkalugmok, at kapag dumarating ang kasaganaan, ayon sa makakaya’y itinataguyod ang kanyang kapakanan.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A true friend is defined by protective concern: he fears the king’s (or ally’s) loss as his own and actively works to prevent harm, especially in dharmic affairs. Whoever wishes the ruler’s damage is, by that intention, an enemy.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhishma advises Yudhishthira on how to judge allies and opponents. He gives a practical ethical criterion: the friend is the one who is anxious about your welfare and guards you from decline; those who seek your ruin are to be treated as foes.