Shloka 2
Adhyāya 223: Nāradasya Guṇa-kathana
Catalogue of Nārada’s Virtues
युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--पितामह! जो राजलक्ष्मीसे भ्रष्ट हो गया हो और कालके दण्डसे पिस गया हो, वह भूपाल किस बुद्धिसे इस पृथ्वीपर विचरे, यह मुझे बताइये ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | atrāpy udāharantīmam itihāsaṃ purātanam | vāsavasya ca saṃvādaṃ baler vairocanasyātha ca ||
ভীষ্ম বললেন—এই বিষয়েই বিদ্বজ্জনেরা এক প্রাচীন ইতিহাসের দৃষ্টান্ত দেন—অর্থাৎ বাসব (ইন্দ্র) ও বিরোচনপুত্র বলির সংলাপ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma indicates that questions of conduct—especially for a king who has fallen from prosperity—are best understood through authoritative exemplars. He introduces an ancient dialogue (Indra–Bali) as a moral-ethical case study for right conduct amid loss, punishment of time, and political reversal.
After Yudhishthira asks how a king, deprived of royal fortune and crushed by fate, should live and move about in the world, Bhishma begins his reply by announcing that he will cite an old traditional account: the conversation between Indra (Vasava) and Bali, son of Virocana.