Shloka 20

राजधर्मः—प्रजापालनं दानयज्ञश्च

Royal Duty—Protection of Subjects, Generosity, and Sacrificial Discipline

Devanagari script

वृत्तं तु स्वमपेक्षस्व पितृपैतामहोचितम्‌ । नैव राज्ञां तथा वृत्तं यथा त्वं स्थातुमिच्छसि

Transliteration

vṛttaṃ tu svam apekṣasva pitṛpaitāmaho-citam | naiva rājñāṃ tathā vṛttaṃ yathā tvaṃ sthātum icchasi ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “Look to your own proper conduct—such as befits the tradition of your fathers and grandfathers. The way you wish to live is not, in truth, the conduct appropriate to kings.”

Word by Word

• वृत्तम्: conduct, mode of life
• वृत्तम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृत्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• तु: but, however
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• स्वम्: one's own
• स्वम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• अपेक्षस्व: seek, look to, follow
• Type: Verb
• Root: अपेक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: Imperative, Second, Singular, Ātmanepada

• पितृपैतामह: in (the tradition) of fathers and grandfathers
• पितृपैतामह: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पितृ + पैतामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• उचितम्: befitting, proper
• उचितम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उचित (कृदन्त; √उच्/वच्? in sense 'to befit' as adjectival stem 'ucita')
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• एव: indeed, just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• राज्ञाम्: of kings
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• तथा: thus, in that way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• वृत्तम्: conduct (as a norm)
• वृत्तम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृत्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• यथा: as, in the manner that
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Nominative, Singular

• स्थातुम्: to stand; to remain; to live
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु)
• Form: Infinitive (Tumun)

• इच्छसि: you desire, you wish
• Type: Verb
• Root: इष्/इच्छ् (धातु)
• Form: Present, Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler should align his personal lifestyle and choices with the established standards of royal dharma—conduct proven and sanctioned by ancestral tradition—rather than following a private preference that undermines the dignity and duties of kingship.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on governance and dharma, Bhishma admonishes the listener (a king/ruler) to measure himself against the proper, inherited code of conduct for kings, warning that the way he wishes to live does not match what is fitting for royalty.