Shloka 113
न्यग्रोधं तत्र चापश्यत् कड़्कालं राजधर्मण: । पिताकी ऐसी आज्ञा पाकर वह तुरंत ही राक्षसोंके साथ उस वटवृक्षके पास गया। वहाँ उसे राजधर्माका कंकाल अर्थात् उसके पंख, हड्डियों और पैरोंका समूह दिखायी दिया
nyagrodhaṃ tatra cāpaśyat kaṅkālaṃ rājadharmaṇaḥ |
Bhishma said: “There he saw, beneath the banyan tree, the ‘skeleton’ of Royal Dharma—only a remnant, as it were: its wings, bones, and feet gathered together.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Rājadharma is not merely administrative form or coercive power; without living virtues—justice, restraint, protection of subjects, and truth—it becomes a hollow structure. The ‘skeleton’ image warns that governance devoid of ethical substance collapses into lifeless remnants.
In Bhishma’s discourse on dharma, the scene presents a symbolic vision: at a banyan tree, the observer encounters the ‘skeleton of rājadharma.’ It functions as an allegorical sign meant to provoke reflection on the decay of righteous rule when its essential qualities are lost.