Shloka 12
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
अशंकमानो वचनमनसूयुरिदं शृणु । राज्ञ: कोशक्षयादेव जायते बलसंक्षय:,तुम मेरी बातपर संदेह न करते हुए दोषदृष्टिका परित्याग करके यह उपदेश सुनो। खजानेके नष्ट होनेसे ही राजाके बलका नाश होता है
aśaṅkamāno vacanam anasūyur idaṃ śṛṇu | rājñaḥ kośa-kṣayād eva jāyate bala-saṅkṣayaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Listen to this instruction without doubt and without fault-finding. It is from the depletion of the king’s treasury that the weakening of his power inevitably arises.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s effective power depends on the health of the treasury; when the treasury is depleted, the king’s strength—especially administrative and military capacity—declines. The listener should receive such counsel without suspicion or fault-finding.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma is advising the king (Yudhiṣṭhira in context) on practical foundations of governance, emphasizing that economic resources (kośa) sustain royal power (bala) and urging an open, non-censorious attitude toward counsel.