Shloka 10

आपद्धर्मे राज्ञः नीतिः — Bharadvāja’s Counsel on Crisis-Statecraft (Śānti Parva 138)

Devanagari script

अथ सम्प्रतिपत्तिज्ञ: प्राब्रवीद्‌ दीर्घदर्शिनम्‌ । प्राप्ते काले न मे किंचिन्न्यायत: परिहास्यते

Transliteration

atha sampratipattijñaḥ prābravīd dīrghadarśinam | prāpte kāle na me kiñcin nyāyataḥ parihāsyate ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: Rồi người tinh thông sự phán đoán đúng đắn nói với kẻ nhìn xa: “Bạn hiền, khi thời cơ đến, trí tuệ của ta, nương theo lẽ phải, không bao giờ thất bại trong việc tìm ra đường lối thích đáng; điều gì hợp với công lý thì không bị bỏ sót hay để dang dở.”

Word by Word

• अथ: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• सम्प्रतिपत्तिज्ञः: one who knows what is to be done / a man of ready judgment
• सम्प्रतिपत्तिज्ञः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सम्प्रतिपत्ति-ज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्राब्रवीत्: said / spoke
• Type: Verb
• Root: ब्रू
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• दीर्घदर्शिनम्: the far-sighted one
• दीर्घदर्शिनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दीर्घ-दर्शिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• प्राप्ते: when (it is) arrived / on the occurrence of
• प्राप्ते: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-आप्
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• काले: at the time
• काले: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• मे: of me / my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• किञ्चित्: anything
• किञ्चित्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किञ्चित्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• न्यायतः: rightly / according to reason
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न्याय
• Form: ablative used adverbially

• परिहास्यते: is made light of / fails / is neglected
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि-हास्
• Form: Present, 3rd, Singular, Atmanepada, Indicative

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• sampratipattijñaḥ (a discerning speaker)
• dīrghadarśin (the far-seeing person)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Right action depends on timely discernment: when the proper moment arrives, a dharma-guided intellect should not overlook the just and fitting means to act.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma reports a dialogue in which a person known for practical discernment speaks to a far-seeing counterpart, asserting confidence that, at the decisive time, he will not miss a righteous strategy or solution.