Shloka 3
Kṣemadarśa–Kālakavṛkṣīya Saṃvāda: Counsel on Impermanence, Non-attachment, and Composure in Dispossession
क्षेमदर्शी नृपसुतो यत्र क्षीणबल: पुरा । मुनिं कालकवृक्षीयमाजगामेति न: श्रुतम् । त॑ पप्रच्छानुसंगृहा कृच्छामापदमास्थित:
kṣemadarśī nṛpasuto yatra kṣīṇabalaḥ purā | muniṃ kālakavṛkṣīyam ājagāmeti naḥ śrutam | taṃ papracchānusaṃgṛhya kṛcchrām āpadam āsthitaḥ |
Bhīṣma said: “We have heard that long ago the prince Kṣemadarśī, son of a king, once became utterly weakened—his forces having been exhausted. At that time he went to the sage Kālakavṛkṣīya; and, having approached him with due reverence while caught in a severe calamity, he asked him for counsel on how to be freed from that distress.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
In adversity, a ruler should not rely only on lost power or force; he should seek dharmic guidance from the wise, approaching them with humility and reverence to learn the right means of relief and right conduct.
Bhīṣma introduces an old account: the prince Kṣemadarśī, having become powerless and overwhelmed by a grave संकट (āpad), goes to the sage Kālakavṛkṣīya and respectfully asks for a way to escape the calamity.