Shloka 36
Śara-śayyā-sthita-bhīṣma-saṃvāda-prastāvaḥ
The Prelude to Questioning Bhīṣma on the Bed of Arrows
जन्मसे लेकर आजतक किसीने भी आपमें कोई भी दोष (पाप) नहीं देखा है। सब राजा इस बातको स्वीकार करते हैं कि आप सम्पूर्ण धर्मोके ज्ञाता हैं ।।
janmase lekar ājatak kisine'pi āpameṁ koī'pi doṣa (pāpa) nahīṁ dekhā hai. sarva rājā isa bātako svīkāra karate haiṁ ki āpa sampūrṇa dharmoke jñātā haiṁ. tebhyaḥ pitevā putrebhyo rājan brūhi paraṁ nayam ṛṣayaś caiva devāś ca tvayā nityam upāsitāḥ.
“From your birth until today, no one has ever seen any fault—any sin—in you. All kings acknowledge this: that you are a knower of the whole range of dharma. Therefore, O king, speak to them the highest guidance, as a father would to his sons. For sages and the gods too have been continually revered by you.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral authority in governance arises from a life free of visible wrongdoing and from sustained reverence toward sages and the divine; such a ruler should guide other kings with the highest standard of dharma, like a father instructing his sons.
Vāyudeva addresses a king renowned for faultless conduct and comprehensive knowledge of dharma, urging him to give supreme guidance (paraṁ naya) to other kings, grounding that authority in his lifelong devotion to sages and gods.