Shloka 18
ततस्त्व॑ पुरुषश्रेष्ठ धर्मेण प्रतिपेदिवान् । इदं वर्षसहस्राणि राज्यं कुरुकुलागतम् । बाल एवाभिकषिक्तस्त्वं सर्वभूतानुपालक:,तुम्हारे पिताने साठ वर्षकी आयुतक इन समस्त प्रजाजनोंका पालन किया था। तदनन्तर हम सबको दु:ख देकर उन्होंने विदेह-कैवल्य प्राप्त किया। पुरुषश्रेष्ठ। पिताके देहावसानके बाद तुमने धर्मपूर्वक इस राज्यको ग्रहण किया है, जो सहस्रों वर्षोसे कुरुकुलके अधीन चला आ रहा है। बाल्यावस्थामें ही तुम्हारा राज्याभिषेक हुआ था। तबसे तुम्हीं इस राज्यके समस्त प्राणियोंका पालन करते हो
tatas tvaṁ puruṣaśreṣṭha dharmeṇa pratipedivān | idaṁ varṣasahasrāṇi rājyaṁ kurukulāgatam | bāla evābhiṣi(k)tas tvaṁ sarvabhūtānupālakaḥ ||
Then you, best of men, accepted in accordance with dharma this kingship that has come down in the Kuru line for thousands of years. Though you were consecrated while still a boy, you have since protected all beings in the realm as their guardian-king.
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Legitimate rule is grounded in dharma: a king should accept sovereignty lawfully and exercise it as protective guardianship over all beings, not merely as personal power.
Janamejaya addresses the king as “best of men,” noting that after the previous ruler’s passing, he assumed the ancestral Kuru kingdom in a dharmic manner; though crowned in childhood, he has continued to protect the realm and its subjects.