Shloka 2
Adhyāya 223: Nāradasya Guṇa-kathana
Catalogue of Nārada’s Virtues
युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--पितामह! जो राजलक्ष्मीसे भ्रष्ट हो गया हो और कालके दण्डसे पिस गया हो, वह भूपाल किस बुद्धिसे इस पृथ्वीपर विचरे, यह मुझे बताइये ।। भीष्म उवाच अत्राप्युदाहरन्तीममितिहासं पुरातनम् । वासवस्य च संवादं बलेवैंरोचनस्यथ च,भीष्मजीने कहा--युधिष्ठिर! इस विषयमें जानकार मनुष्य विरोचनकुमार बलि और इन्द्रके संवादरूप एक प्राचीन इतिहासका उदाहरण दिया करते हैं
bhīṣma uvāca | atrāpy udāharantīmam itihāsaṃ purātanam | vāsavasya ca saṃvādaṃ baler vairocanasyātha ca ||
Bhishma said: “On this very point, the learned cite an ancient historical example—namely, the dialogue between Vāsava (Indra) and Bali, the son of Virocana.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma indicates that questions of conduct—especially for a king who has fallen from prosperity—are best understood through authoritative exemplars. He introduces an ancient dialogue (Indra–Bali) as a moral-ethical case study for right conduct amid loss, punishment of time, and political reversal.
After Yudhishthira asks how a king, deprived of royal fortune and crushed by fate, should live and move about in the world, Bhishma begins his reply by announcing that he will cite an old traditional account: the conversation between Indra (Vasava) and Bali, son of Virocana.