Shloka 13
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
कोशं च जनयेद् राजा निर्जलेभ्यो यथा जलम् | काल प्राप्यानुगृह्लीयादेष धर्म: सनातन: । उपायधर्म प्राप्येमं पूर्वराचरितं जनै:,जैसे मनुष्य निर्जल स्थानोंसे भी खोदकर जल निकाल लेता है उसी प्रकार राजा संकटकालमें निर्धन प्रजासे भी यथासाध्य धन लेकर अपना खजाना बढ़ावे; फिर अच्छा समय आनेपर उस धनके द्वारा प्रजापर अनुग्रह करे, यही सनातनकालसे चला आनेवाला धर्म है। पूर्ववर्ती राजाओंने भी आपत्तिकालमें इस उपायधर्मको पाकर इसका आचरण किया है
bhīṣma uvāca |
kośaṃ ca janayed rājā nirjalebhyo yathā jalam |
kālaṃ prāpya anugṛhṇīyād eṣa dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ |
upāyadharmaṃ prāpya imaṃ pūrvar ācāritaṃ janaiḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “A king should build up his treasury, just as one draws out water even from places that seem waterless. When the proper time returns, he should then show favor to the people by means of that wealth—this is the eternal, time-honored dharma. Earlier rulers too, when they encountered calamity, adopted this pragmatic ‘dharma of expedients’ and acted accordingly.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
In times of crisis a king may, within limits, raise resources even from strained sources to protect the realm; when stability returns, he must use that accumulated wealth to relieve and benefit the people. Pragmatic measures are justified only when paired with later restitution and welfare.
Bhishma, instructing on rajadharma in the Shanti Parva, explains an emergency principle of governance: build the treasury during distress (even by extracting from the poor as feasible), and later, in good times, repay that burden through generosity and public benefit—citing it as an old, established practice of earlier rulers.