Shloka 28
Satya–Anṛta Viveka (Discrimination between Truth and Falsehood) | सत्य–अनृत विवेकः
स्वकर्मणा हतं हन्ति हत एव स हन्यते । तेषु यः: समयं कश्रिद् कुर्वीत हतबुद्धिषु
svakarmaṇā hataṃ hanti hata eva sa hanyate | teṣu yaḥ samayaṃ kaścid kurvīta hatabuddhiṣu ||
毗湿摩说道：“人所杀者，乃已被自身业报击倒之人；而他自己——既已被业报击倒——终亦将被杀。因此，在那些判断已毁之辈中，凡欲缔结盟约或求和者，皆是缺乏真实明辨而行。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma frames violence and downfall as driven by one’s own karma: people become ‘already struck’ by their deeds, and then external agents merely complete what karma has set in motion. Hence, making agreements with those whose judgment is corrupted (hatabuddhi) is unreliable and ethically unsound.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, governance, and moral reasoning after the war. Here he cautions about the futility/danger of seeking settlements with persons whose discernment is destroyed, emphasizing karmic causality behind ruin and conflict.