Shloka 5
आपद्-राजनीतिः (Āpad-rājanīti) — Policy Options in Multi-Front Crisis
प्रतिग्रहमहं राज्ञां न करिष्ये कथठ्चन । अन््येषां चैव वर्णानामिति कृत्वा धियं तदा
pratigraham ahaṃ rājñāṃ na kariṣye kathaṃcana | anyeṣāṃ caiva varṇānām iti kṛtvā dhiyaṃ tadā
Ṛṣabha said: “I will not, under any circumstance, accept gifts from kings; nor will I accept them from people of other social orders.” Having thus resolved in his mind at that time, he fixed his conduct upon this vow.
ऋषभ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches restraint and moral independence: refusing gifts (pratigraha), especially from powerful patrons like kings, to avoid obligation, compromise, or entanglement. It frames ethical purity as grounded in a firm inner resolve (dhiyaṃ kṛtvā).
Ṛṣabha articulates a personal vow: he decides that he will not accept gifts from kings, nor from others of different social orders, and he establishes this as a settled intention. The moment marks a deliberate commitment to an ascetic or principled mode of life.