Shloka 49
Vyāghra–Gomāyu Saṃvāda (व्याघ्रगोमायु संवाद) — Testing Character Beneath Appearances
मृगराजेन चाज्ञप्तं दृश्यतां चोर इत्युत । कृतकैश्चापि तन्मांसं मृगेन्द्रायोपवर्णितम्
mṛgarājena cājñaptaṃ dṛśyatāṃ cora ity uta | kṛtakaiś cāpi tanmāṃsaṃ mṛgendrāyopavarṇitam ||
毗湿摩说道：“百兽之王下令：‘把盗贼查明并带来示众！’然而同谋之人却仍将那块肉描绘给尊贵的鹿王，仿佛那本就是为他预备的一般。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that adharma spreads through coordinated falsehood: even when authority seeks truth (“show the thief”), deceivers can sustain injustice by reframing and misdescribing the wrongdoing. Ethical governance requires not only punishing theft but also exposing and resisting the network of misrepresentation around it.
In an animal-fable setting recounted by Bhīṣma, the ‘king of beasts’ orders that the thief be produced. Despite this, the deceivers continue to present the stolen flesh as though it rightly belonged to the ‘lord of deer/animals,’ attempting to conceal the crime through persuasive description and pretense.