Shloka 17
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
अनन्तरं क्षत्रियस्य तत्र कि विचिकित्स्यते | यथास्य धर्मों न ग्लायेन्नेयाच्छत्रुवशं यथा । तत् कर्तव्यमिहेत्याहुर्नात्मानवसादयेत्,आपत्ति दूर होनेके बाद क्षत्रियको क्या करना चाहिये? वह प्रायश्नित्त करे या प्रजासे कर लेना छोड़ दे; यह संशय उपस्थित होता है। इसका समाधान यह है कि वह ऐसा बर्ताव करे जिससे उसके धर्मको हानि न पहुँचे तथा उसे शत्रुके अधीन न होना पड़े। विद्वानोंने उसके लिये यही कर्तव्य बतलाया है, वह किसी तरह अपने-आपको संकटमें न डाले
anantaraṃ kṣatriyasya tatra kiṃ vicikitsyate | yathāsya dharmo na glāyen neyāc chatrūvaśaṃ yathā | tat kartavyam ihāty āhur nātmānam avasādayet |
Bhishma said: “After a crisis has passed, what should a kshatriya still be uncertain about? He should act so that his dharma does not decline and so that he does not fall under an enemy’s control. The wise declare this to be his duty here: he should not cast himself down or bring himself again into distress.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A kshatriya’s post-crisis duty is to preserve dharma and political independence: act so that righteous conduct is not weakened and so that one does not become subject to an enemy; do not lapse into self-defeating despair or negligence.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira in the Shanti Parva, he addresses the doubt about what a warrior-ruler should do after danger has passed, and he resolves it by prioritizing the maintenance of dharma and avoidance of subjugation.