Shloka 43
मृदु-तीक्ष्ण-नीति तथा दुष्टलक्षण-विज्ञानम्
Measured Policy and the Recognition of Malicious Disposition
प्रदाय गूढानि वसूनि राजन् प्रच्छिद्य भोगानवधाय च स्वान् | दुष्टान् स्वदोषैरिति कीर्तयित्वा पुरेषु राष्ट्रषु च योजयन्ति
pradāya gūḍhāni vasūni rājan pracchidya bhogān avadhāya ca svān | duṣṭān svadoṣair iti kīrtayitvā pureṣu rāṣṭreṣu ca yojayanti devarāja |
毗湿摩说道：“大王啊，君主可以暗中赐予隐秘的财物，而在表面上却断绝某人的享乐，没收其享用之资，甚至装作舍弃自己的亲近之人。随后又宣告：‘这些人因自身过失而染污；因此我已将这些恶徒逐出国境——他们已去往他国。’借此，他把他们安置到敌方的城邑与邦国之中，令其刺探情报、制造破绽。于是，外表看来他夺走了他们的一切享乐之具；而在暗处却供给他们充足的资金，并派几名可信之人随行扶助，以成其事。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma describes a pragmatic tool of rāja-dharma: a king may use controlled public narrative and secret patronage to deploy agents in hostile territories. The method relies on outward disavowal (to make the agents credible as ‘exiles’) while secretly funding and supporting them, prioritizing the kingdom’s security through intelligence-gathering.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on governance, Bhishma advises Yudhishthira about covert operations. The king publicly brands certain men as दोष-दूषित (fault-tainted) and expels them, confiscating their comforts, but privately gives them hidden wealth and helpers, then places them in enemy cities and kingdoms to penetrate defenses and collect information.