Shloka 18
Dasyu-maryādā and Buddhi-guided Rāja-nīti (दस्युमर्यादा तथा बुद्धिप्रधान-राजनीति)
"क्षत्रिय सबकी बुराई ही करते हैं। इनपर कभी विश्वास नहीं करना चाहिये। ये दूसरोंका अपकार करके भी सदा उसे व्यर्थ सान्त्वना दिया करते हैं ।।
kṣatriyāḥ sarvakīṃ burāīṃ hi kurvanti | etaiḥ kadācid api viśvāso na kartavyaḥ | te paropakāraṃ kṛtvāpi sadā taṃ vyartha-sāntvanāṃ dadati || aham asya karomy adya sadṛśīṃ vairayātanām | kṛtaghnasya nṛśaṃsasya bhṛśaṃ viśvāsaghātinaḥ | “paśyata tāvat, ayaṃ rājakumāraḥ kīdṛśaḥ kṛtaghnaḥ, atyanta-krūraḥ, viśvāsaghātī ca! śobhanam—adya aham asya vairasya badalaṃ gṛhītvā eva sthāsyāmi.”
毗湿摩说道：“刹帝利常常急于诋毁他人；决不可对他们寄以信任。即便伤害了别人，他们仍不断献上空洞的安慰。今日我必以相称的报复回敬这段仇怨——加诸那忘恩负义、残忍无情、严重背弃信义之人。‘你们看这位王子：何等忘恩，何等酷烈，何等奸诈背信！好吧；今日我必为这份敌意复仇，决不罢休。’”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage warns against misplaced trust in those who habitually harm others and then offer only hollow reassurance; it highlights the ethical gravity of ingratitude and betrayal of trust, and shows how such vices provoke cycles of retaliation.
A speaker (framed here under Bhishma’s discourse) reports a harsh judgment about kshatriyas and then voices a vow of revenge against a prince described as ungrateful, cruel, and treacherous—indicating an escalation from moral condemnation to retaliatory intent.