Shloka 3
Āśrama-dharma: Duties of the Four Life-Stages (आश्रमधर्मः)
केन वै वर्धते राष्ट्र राजा केन विवर्धते । केन पौराश्च भृत्याश्न वर्धन्ते भरतर्षभ,'राष्ट्रकी वृद्धि कैसे होती है, राजाका अभ्युदय किस उपायसे होता है? भरतश्रेष्ठ! पुरवासियों और भरण-पोषण करने योग्य सेवकोंकी उन्नति भी किस उपायसे होती है?
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: kena vai vardhate rāṣṭraṁ rājā kena vivardhate | kena paurāś ca bhṛtyāś ca vardhante bharatarṣabha ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “By what means does a kingdom truly prosper? By what means does a king rise to greater flourishing? And by what means do the townspeople and the dependents who are to be maintained also thrive, O bull among the Bharatas?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a central Rajadharma inquiry: the prosperity of the realm, the ruler, and the people is not accidental but depends on specific causes—right governance, just policy, and proper maintenance of dependents—inviting a dharmic analysis of what makes a state flourish.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on kingship and peace, Vaiśampāyana poses (or reports) a set of guiding questions to a Bharata leader about the means by which the kingdom, the king, and the citizens/retainers increase in well-being, setting up the ensuing counsel on statecraft and duty.