Shloka 13
देवविमान-दर्शनम् / The Celestial Assembly and Vimana Spectacle
Bhīṣma–Arjuna Encounter Framed Cosmically
बलस्य व्यसनानीह यान्युक्तानि मनीषिभि: । मुख्यो भेदो हि तेषां तु पापिष्ठो विदुषां मत:
balasya vyasanānīha yāny uktāni manīṣibhiḥ | mukhyo bhedo hi teṣāṃ tu pāpiṣṭho viduṣāṃ mataḥ ||
Bhīṣma nói: “Trong các tai ương mà bậc trí giả đã chỉ ra là khiến một đạo quân đi đến diệt vong, sự chia rẽ nội bộ là đứng đầu. Người học rộng coi thứ bè phái ấy là tội lỗi nặng nề nhất.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the most destructive threat to collective strength—especially an army—is internal dissension. Unity is a moral and strategic necessity; causing or tolerating factionalism is judged by the wise as profoundly sinful because it leads to collapse and widespread harm.
Bhishma is giving counsel framed as ethical-political instruction. He identifies the principal cause of an army’s destruction as ‘bheda’ (internal split), emphasizing that learned authorities condemn such division as the worst wrongdoing.