Shloka 6

Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma

Devanagari script

विज्ञानबलपूतो यो वर्तते निन्दितेष्वपि । वृत्तिविज्ञानवान्‌ धीर: कस्तं वा वक्तुमहति

Transliteration

vijñānabalapūto yo vartate ninditeṣv api | vṛttivijñānavān dhīraḥ kas taṃ vā vaktum arhati ||

Translation

Bhishma nói: “Người nào được thanh lọc bởi sức mạnh của tri kiến chân thật, lại hiểu rõ ràng về phương kế mưu sinh—ai được nuôi sống bởi điều gì và bằng lối hành xử nào—thì vị vua điềm tĩnh, sáng suốt ấy, dẫu vì cứu vương quốc khỏi hiểm nguy mà phải làm những việc vốn thường bị chê trách, ai mới là kẻ xứng đáng kết tội ông?”

Word by Word

• {'vijñāna': 'discriminative knowledge

• true understanding', 'bala': 'strength

• power', 'pūta': 'purified

• cleansed', 'yo': 'who', 'vartate': 'acts

• engages', 'ninditeṣu': 'in censured/blameworthy matters or actions', 'api': 'even

• even if', 'vṛtti': 'livelihood

• practical course of conduct', 'vijñānavān': 'possessing clear knowledge

• well-informed', 'dhīraḥ': 'steady

• self-controlled', 'kas': 'who?', 'tam': 'him', 'vā': 'indeed/then

• or (rhetorical)', 'vaktum': 'to speak (against)

• to declare', 'arhati': 'is worthy/fit

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches that a ruler grounded in true discernment and practical understanding of livelihood and governance may, in exceptional emergencies, undertake ordinarily blameworthy measures to protect the realm; such action, when guided by wisdom and necessity, is not easily subject to moral condemnation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on raja-dharma in the Shanti Parva, he argues about the difficult choices kings face: when the kingdom is threatened, a wise and steady ruler may need to act in ways that appear censurable, and Bhishma challenges the audience by asking who could rightly blame such a ruler acting for the state’s preservation.