Shloka 54
Śara-śayyā-sthita-bhīṣma-saṃvāda-prastāvaḥ
The Prelude to Questioning Bhīṣma on the Bed of Arrows
प्रभो! जो मनुष्य जानते हुए भी श्रद्धापूर्वक प्रश्न करनेवालेको उपदेश नहीं देता, उसे अत्यन्त दुःखदायक दोषकी प्राप्ति होती है; अतः भरतश्रेष्ठ! धर्मको जाननेकी इच्छावाले अपने पुत्रों और पौत्रोंके पूछनेपर उन्हें सनातन धर्मका उपदेश करें; क्योंकि आप धर्मशास्त्रोंके विद्वान् हैं ।।
prabho! yo manuṣyaḥ jñātvāpi śraddhayā praśna-kartr̥bhyaḥ upadeśaṃ na dadāti, tasya atyanta-duḥkha-dāyaka-doṣa-prāptiḥ bhavati; ataḥ bharata-śreṣṭha! dharmaṃ jñātum icchantaḥ sva-putrāṇāṃ pautrāṇāṃ ca pṛcchataḥ tebhyaḥ sanātana-dharmasya upadeśaṃ kuryuḥ; yataḥ bhavān dharmaśāstra-vidvān asti.
Vāyu said: “O lord! A person who, though knowing, refuses to instruct one who asks with faith incurs a grievous and painful fault. Therefore, O best of the Bharatas, when your sons and grandsons inquire with a desire to understand dharma, teach them the eternal dharma—for you are learned in the treatises on dharma.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
One who possesses knowledge has an ethical duty to teach sincere, faithful inquirers; withholding instruction when properly asked is a serious moral fault. Therefore elders—especially rulers learned in dharma—should transmit sanātana-dharma to the next generations.
Vāyudeva addresses a Bharata ruler within the Shānti Parva’s discourse on rājadharma, urging him to respond to questions from sons and grandsons by teaching them the eternal principles of dharma, emphasizing the responsibility of the learned to guide others.