Shloka 96

Devanagari script

अप्यपर्वणि भज्येत न नमेतेह कस्यचित्‌ | भारत! ऐसे नरेशको कैसे सुख मिलेगा? अतः राजाको सदा उद्यम ही करना चाहिये, किसीके सामने झुकना नहीं चाहिये; क्योंकि उद्यम ही पुरुषत्व है। जैसे सूखी लकड़ी बिना गाँठके ही टूट जाती है, परंतु झुकती नहीं है, उसी प्रकार राजा नष्ट भले ही हो जाय, परंतु उसे कभी दबना नहीं चाहिये

Transliteration

apy aparvaṇi bhajyeta na namet iha kasyacit | bhārata |

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Even if he should break at an unseasonable point, let him not bow here before anyone. O Bhārata, how could such a king ever obtain happiness? Therefore a king should always exert himself and never stoop before another; for steadfast effort itself is manliness. As dry wood snaps without even forming a knot, yet does not bend, so too a king may perish, but he should never submit.”

Word by Word

• {'api': 'even, even if', 'aparvaṇi': 'at a jointless point

• at an improper time/place (lit. ‘not at a node/joint’)', 'bhajyeta': 'may be broken, may snap (optative/passive sense)', 'na': 'not', 'namet': 'should bow, should bend, should submit (optative)', 'iha': 'here, in this world/context', 'kasyacit': 'to anyone, before anyone (gen./dat. sense)', 'bhārata': 'O Bhārata (address to Yudhiṣṭhira, descendant of Bharata)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A king’s dignity and effectiveness rest on unwavering resolve: he should rely on sustained effort (udyama) and refuse humiliating submission, even at the cost of ruin. The ethic is kṣātra firmness—better to break than to bend.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma counsels Yudhiṣṭhira on the qualities of kingship, using the image of dry wood that snaps rather than bends to illustrate steadfastness under pressure.