Shloka 29
Satya–Anṛta Viveka (Discrimination between Truth and Falsehood) | सत्य–अनृत विवेकः
पापी मनुष्य अपने कर्मसे ही मरा हुआ है; अतः उसको जो मारता है, वह मरे हुएको ही मारता है। उसके मारनेका पाप नहीं लगता; अतः जो कोई भी मनुष्य इन हतबुद्धि पापियोंके वधका नियम ले सकता है ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | pāpī manuṣyaḥ svaiḥ karmabhir eva mṛtaḥ; ataḥ yaḥ taṃ hanti sa mṛtam eva hanti | tasya hanane pāpaṃ na lipyate; ataḥ yaḥ kaścid manuṣyaḥ etān hatabuddhīn pāpinaḥ vadhaniyamaṃ kartuṃ śaknoti || yathā kākāś ca gṛdhrāś ca tathaivopadhijīvinaḥ | ūrdhvaṃ dehavimokṣāt te bhavanty etāsu yoniṣu ||
毗湿摩说道：“罪人因自身所作之业，早已等同于死。故击杀他者，不过是击杀已死之人。杀此等人不染罪；因此，人甚至可以立为规约与职责，去诛除这些邪恶而迷乱的作恶者。正如世间有乌鸦与秃鹫，同样也有人以欺诈为生；身坏命终之后，他们便投生于那等卑下之胎类。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma frames severe wrongdoing as self-destructive: by their own karma the wicked are 'already dead' in a moral sense, so punishing them is presented as not accruing the same sin as ordinary killing; deceitful livelihoods lead to degraded rebirth.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and governance, Bhishma advises on how to view and deal with grievous offenders, justifying punitive violence and warning that fraudsters fall into low births like crows and vultures after death.