Shloka 25
Nīti-upadeśa to a Rājaputra: Self-restraint, Alliances, and Rival-Management (नीतिउपदेशः)
एते चान्ये च बहवो दम्भयोगा: सुचिन्तिता: । शकक््या विषहता कर्तु पुरुषेण कृतात्मना
ete cānye ca bahavo dambhayogāḥ sucintitāḥ | śakyā viṣahatā kartuṃ puruṣeṇa kṛtātmanā, rājakumāra |
Bhīṣma nói: “Hỡi vương tử! Những mưu kế dối trá này, cùng vô số kế khác đã được cân nhắc kỹ lưỡng, quả có thể do người biết tự chế thực hiện—nếu người ấy chịu nổi việc hành xử trái với dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights a moral tension: sophisticated deceptive tactics are feasible even for a disciplined person, but only if he can bear the inner cost of acting against dharma. Capability and self-control do not automatically make an action righteous; ethical endurance can be misused to sustain wrongdoing.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on conduct and governance, Bhishma addresses a prince and continues describing various calculated stratagems. He remarks that such deceitful devices can be executed by a self-mastered person—provided he can tolerate engaging in dharma-opposed behavior.