Shloka 6

Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma

Devanagari script

विज्ञानबलपूतो यो वर्तते निन्दितेष्वपि । वृत्तिविज्ञानवान्‌ धीर: कस्तं वा वक्तुमहति

Transliteration

vijñānabalapūto yo vartate ninditeṣv api | vṛttivijñānavān dhīraḥ kas taṃ vā vaktum arhati ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“凡以真实之智力而自净者，且能明了生计之道——何物养何人、以何行持而得以维生——如此沉稳而明辨的国王，即便为拯救国土于危难而从事世人通常所讥评之事，又有谁配加以谴责？”

Word by Word

• {'vijñāna': 'discriminative knowledge

• true understanding', 'bala': 'strength

• power', 'pūta': 'purified

• cleansed', 'yo': 'who', 'vartate': 'acts

• engages', 'ninditeṣu': 'in censured/blameworthy matters or actions', 'api': 'even

• even if', 'vṛtti': 'livelihood

• practical course of conduct', 'vijñānavān': 'possessing clear knowledge

• well-informed', 'dhīraḥ': 'steady

• self-controlled', 'kas': 'who?', 'tam': 'him', 'vā': 'indeed/then

• or (rhetorical)', 'vaktum': 'to speak (against)

• to declare', 'arhati': 'is worthy/fit

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches that a ruler grounded in true discernment and practical understanding of livelihood and governance may, in exceptional emergencies, undertake ordinarily blameworthy measures to protect the realm; such action, when guided by wisdom and necessity, is not easily subject to moral condemnation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on raja-dharma in the Shanti Parva, he argues about the difficult choices kings face: when the kingdom is threatened, a wise and steady ruler may need to act in ways that appear censurable, and Bhishma challenges the audience by asking who could rightly blame such a ruler acting for the state’s preservation.