Shloka 144
Varṇa-dharma and Rājadharma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Outline (वर्णधर्म-राजधर्म-प्रश्नोत्तरम्)
ततो जगति राजेन्द्र सततं शब्दितं बुधेः देवाश्व नरदेवाश्न तुल्या इति विशाम्पते,राजेन्द्र! प्रजानाथ! तबसे जगतमें विद्वानोंने सदाके लिये यह घोषणा कर दी है कि “देव और नरदेव (राजा) दोनों समान हैं!
tato jagati rājendra satataṁ śabditaṁ budhaiḥ | devāś ca naradevāś ca tulyā iti viśāmpate ||
Bhīṣma said: “Therefore, O best of kings, the wise have proclaimed throughout the world, for all time, that the gods and the ‘god among men’—the king—are alike. O lord of the people, thus royal authority is to be honored as a sacred trust.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the king, when functioning rightly, is regarded as comparable to the gods because he protects, sustains order, and upholds dharma; therefore royal power must be exercised as a sacred responsibility, not personal indulgence.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on governance, Bhīṣma addresses the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) and cites a long-standing worldly maxim proclaimed by the wise: gods and kings are alike in status—implying the king’s duty to act as a protector and moral guardian.