Shloka 64
Varṇa-dharma and Rājadharma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Outline (वर्णधर्म-राजधर्म-प्रश्नोत्तरम्)
पणवानकशडूखानां भेरीणां च युधिष्ठिर । उपार्जनं च द्रव्याणां परिमर्दश्च॒ तानि षघट्,युधिष्ठिर! ढोल, नगारे, शंख, भेरी आदि रणवाद्योंको बजाने, मणि, पशु, पृथ्वी, वस्त्र, दास-दासी तथा सुवर्ण--इन छः प्रकारके द्रव्योंका अपने लिये उपार्जन करने तथा शत्रुपक्षकी इन वस्तुओंका विनाश कर देनेका भी इस शास्त्रमें उल्लेख है
bhīṣma uvāca | paṇavānakaśaṅkhānāṁ bherīṇāṁ ca yudhiṣṭhira | upārjanaṁ ca dravyāṇāṁ parimardaś ca tāni ṣaṭ ||
Bhishma said: “O Yudhishthira, this teaching also speaks of sounding the war-instruments—drums, kettledrums, conches, and bherī-drums—and of acquiring for oneself six kinds of valuables, as well as of crushing (i.e., destroying) these same resources when they belong to the enemy.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma frames warfare and governance as involving both disciplined martial communication (sounding war-instruments) and economic strategy: securing key resources for one’s own side while, when necessary in conflict, depriving the enemy of those same supports. The ethical context is rājadharma—actions aimed at protecting the realm and maintaining order, not mere cruelty.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs King Yudhishthira on duties of kingship and policy. Here he briefly lists war-instruments and mentions acquiring and destroying categories of material resources, indicating that the śāstra (treatise on governance/war) includes practical guidance on both signaling in battle and managing the material foundations of power.