Shloka 49
मृदु-तीक्ष्ण-नीति तथा दुष्टलक्षण-विज्ञानम्
Measured Policy and the Recognition of Malicious Disposition
पृथगेत्य समश्नाति नेदमद्य यथाविधि । आसने शयमने याने भावा लक्ष्या विशेषत:
pṛthag etya samaśnāti nedam adya yathāvidhi | āsane śayamane yāne bhāvā lakṣyā viśeṣataḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“有人来到此处，却不与众同食，偏要独自进食，随后又抱怨：‘今日这饭食并未按应有之法备办。’此人当视为邪恶。于坐卧行止等细微之处，尤能清楚辨见其内心倾向——那显露败坏品性的征象。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that inner character is revealed through everyday conduct: isolating oneself while eating and fault-finding about what is served indicates a corrupt disposition, and one’s habitual manners of sitting, resting, and moving are reliable signs of one’s moral state.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, Bhishma is describing observable behavioral markers by which one can recognize a person of bad character, using the example of antisocial eating and habitual complaint, and extending it to bodily comportment in daily life.