Shloka 35
Cāturāśramya-dharma—Marks of the Four Āśramas (चातुराश्रम्यधर्मः)
अन्यायपूर्वक क्षत्रिय-धर्मकी अवहेलना करनेसे प्रवृत्ति और निवृत्ति धर्म भी उसी प्रकार बीचमें ही नष्ट हो जाते हैं, जैसे अन्धा मनुष्य रास्तेमें नष्ट हो जाता है ।।
anyāyapūrvakaṁ kṣatriya-dharmasyāvahēlanayā pravṛtti-nivṛtti-dharmāv api tathā madhye naśyataḥ, yathāndho manuṣyo mārge naśyati. ādi pravartite cakre tathaivādi-parāyaṇe; vartasva puruṣavyāghra, saṁvijānāmi te ’nagha. puruṣasiṁha niṣpāpa yudhiṣṭhira, vidhātur etad ājñā-cakraṁ (rājadharmaḥ) ādikāle pracalitaṁ pūrvavarti-mahāpuruṣāṇāṁ parama-āśrayaṁ ca; tvam api tadanusara. jānāmi ca tvāṁ kṣātra-dharma-mārge samarthaṁ.
Bhishma said: “When the Kshatriya’s duty is disregarded through injustice, both the dharmas of engagement and renunciation are likewise cut off midway—just as a blind man perishes on the road. This wheel of command, set in motion from the beginning and upheld by the foremost of the ancients, is the ordinance of the Creator—royal duty itself. Walk in that very track, O tiger among men. I know you well, O sinless Yudhishthira: you are fully capable of proceeding on the path of Kshatriya-dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that unjustly neglecting Kshatriya duty destroys both paths of dharma—active responsibility (pravṛtti) and renunciant restraint (nivṛtti). Therefore, Yudhishthira should uphold rājadharma as an ancient, divinely sanctioned order.
In the Shanti Parva instruction on kingship, Bhishma urges Yudhishthira—who is hesitant and morally burdened after the war—to accept and follow the established royal code, assuring him of his capability and emphasizing its primordial authority.