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Yudhiṣṭhira said.
Is there, perhaps, a robber's code among these terrible, declared, seemingly untrustworthy falsehoods, which I should avoid?
I am completely confused and despondent; my sense of righteousness has become weak. No matter how much I ponder, I cannot muster any effort from anywhere.
Bhīṣma said.
This instruction on dharma of yours is not purely from tradition. It is a honey collected by poets, a complete descent of wisdom.
A king must counter many kinds of wisdom in various ways. This undertaking does not advance by a single branch of dharma alone.
O Kauravya, know this as my word: Victory comes to kings who always practice dharma and keep their intellect awakened.
Kings who are superior in intellect and seek victory prevail. Righteousness must be established by the king's intellect, time and again.
The dharma of kings is not determined by a single branch of dharma. How can the weak possess wisdom, which has not been previously mentioned?
O Bhārata, one who knows non-division, when on the path of duality, is liable to doubt; the division of intellect should be recognized beforehand.
Wisdom that acts sidewise is crooked like a river; but people understand the dharma that is declared in various ways, each in their own way.
Some possess correct knowledge, others possess false knowledge. Having understood that as it truly is, the good acquire knowledge.
The enemies of righteousness destroy the scriptures and, because of inequality, declare the sciences of wealth to be futile.
Those who desire long life, knowledge, and fame everywhere— they are all, the most sinful among men, and are the enemies of dharma.
Those with immature intellects, who are dull, do not understand things as they are; always unskilled in śāstra, they remain unsettled everywhere.
Those who point out the faults in the scriptures destroy the scriptures; thus, true knowledge of the sciences does not properly exist.
O Bhārata, know those who publicize their own knowledge by disparaging the knowledge of others, whose words are sharp and whose knowledge is as fruitless as milk that has already been milked, as knowledge-merchants, like demons.
By deceit, your entire righteousness is understood and ridiculed. We have heard that the word of dharma is not to be followed merely by words or by intellect.
Thus, Maghavan himself spoke the knowledge of Bṛhaspati. However, no statement here is ever made without a reason.
Some determine worldly conduct by what is mastered by oneself and by the śāstra; but here, some declare it as worldly conduct, while the wise declare it as dharma.
O Bhārata, a learned person should not independently infer the dharma of the virtuous that has already been explicitly stated, due to impatience, confusion about the scriptures, or ignorance.
When a wise person's treatise is spoken in an assembly, it may go unnoticed; but when articulated with intellect derived from both acquired and traditional knowledge, it is praised.
Because it arises from ignorance and serves as a cause for knowledge, the statement is considered valid. This is indeed not refuted; this treatise is not without purpose.
The teachers of the Daityas once said, in order to dispel doubt: 'Knowledge is truly indescribable; just as it does not exist, so it is.'
Therefore, with your roots cut, whom do you hope to please? Whoever does not accept this statement, which is not based on truth, or does not hear it, is not worthy.
You have been created for fierce action, not for self-contemplation. O dear, examine this statecraft if you wish to master it, for it is by this that another is liberated and for which one finds joy.
Brahman created the goat, the horse, and the warrior class as similar. Therefore, those who are not very fierce do not succeed in any undertaking.
However, the sin of killing one who should not be killed is regarded as equal to that of killing one who is to be killed. This is truly the boundary that one must not cross.
Therefore, the king must be strict and establish his subjects in their own duties, for otherwise, they would devour one another like wolves.
He whose kingdom is overrun by bands of robbers who seize others' possessions like vultures snatching fish from the palm, is truly a disgrace among kṣatriyas.
O king, appoint noble ministers who possess Vedic knowledge, and rule the earth by protecting your subjects with righteousness.
A king who accepts actions arising from deprivation, without knowing the distinction between the two, is indeed considered a neuter kṣatriya (warrior class).
Neither harshness nor gentleness alone is praised by dharma here. One should not transgress either; even if you become harsh, be gentle.
The duty of a kṣatriya is difficult; this friendship that is in you is unusual. You were created for fierce deeds; therefore, rule the kingdom indeed.
O best of the Bharatas, the wise Śakra said: "One must always restrain the unrighteous and protect the righteous, especially in times of calamity."
Yudhiṣṭhira said.
Is there truly a limit to the robber that no one else should cross? I ask you, O foremost of the virtuous, please tell me that, O grandsire.
Bhīṣma said.
One should serve only Brāhmaṇas—those advanced in knowledge, ascetics, and those endowed with learning, good conduct, and good behaviour—for this is truly the highest purity.
May the conduct you have among the gods be always maintained among the Brāhmaṇas. Indeed, O king, many actions have been performed in various ways by angered Brāhmaṇas.
For them, fame is greatest when there is affection; but with disaffection, the opposite occurs. When Brāhmaṇas are pleased, they are like nectar; but when angered, they are like poison.
