Shloka 5

उपायधर्म-सेनायोगः

Upāya-dharma and Senāyoga: Expedient Ethics & Army Deployment

Devanagari script

उभे प्रज्ञे वेदितव्ये ऋज्वी वक्रा च भारत | जाननू्‌ वक्रां न सेवेत प्रतिबाधेत चागताम्‌,भरतनन्दन! बुद्धि दो प्रकारकी होती है। एक सरल, दूसरी कुटिल। राजाको उन दोनोंका ही ज्ञान प्राप्त करना चाहिये। जहाँतक सम्भव हो, जान-बूझकर कुटिल बुद्धिका सेवन न करे। यदि वैसी बुद्धि स्वतः आ जाय तो भी उसे हटानेका ही प्रयत्न करे

Transliteration

ubhe prajñe veditavye ṛjvī vakrā ca bhārata | jñānan vakrāṃ na seveta pratibādheta cāgatām bharatanandana ||

Translation

بھیشم نے کہا—اے بھارت! دانائی دو طرح کی ہے: ایک سیدھی، دوسری ٹیڑھی (مکار). بادشاہ کو دونوں کا علم ہونا چاہیے؛ مگر جہاں تک ممکن ہو جان بوجھ کر ٹیڑھی رائے اختیار نہ کرے۔ اور اگر ایسی کجی خود بخود سر اٹھائے بھی، تو اسے روکنے اور دور کرنے کی ہی کوشش کرے۔

Word by Word

• {'ubhe': 'both (two)', 'prajñe': 'forms of intelligence/discernment

• practical wisdom', 'veditavye': 'should be known/understood', 'ṛjvī': 'straight, upright, honest', 'vakrā': 'crooked, deceitful, perverse', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)', 'jñānan': 'knowing, being aware', 'vakrām': 'crooked (intelligence/counsel) (acc. sg.)', 'na seveta': 'should not practice/resort to', 'pratibādheta': 'should ward off/repel/oppose', 'āgatām': 'that which has come/arrived

• arisen (of itself)', 'bharatanandana': 'O delight of the Bharatas (epithet of Yudhiṣṭhira)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Yudhiṣṭhira (addressed as Bhārata, Bharatanandana)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler must recognize both upright and deceitful modes of thinking, but should intentionally choose the upright; if crooked impulses arise, he should actively restrain and remove them.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and governance, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira on royal conduct, warning him against adopting or tolerating crooked counsel even when it appears spontaneously.