Shloka 23
धन-राजधर्म संवादः
Discourse on Wealth and Royal Duty
नाधनो धर्मकृत्यानि यथावदनुतिष्ठति । धनाद्धि धर्म: स्रवति शैलादभि नदी यथा
nādhano dharmakṛtyāni yathāvad anutiṣṭhati | dhanād dhi dharmaḥ sravati śailād abhi nadī yathā ||
Arjuna said: A person without wealth cannot properly carry out the duties and acts of dharma. For dharma, in practice, flows from wealth—just as a river continually streams down from a mountain.
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that many dharmic obligations require material resources; without wealth one may be unable to perform prescribed duties (such as giving, hosting, ritual support, and public welfare). It frames wealth as an enabling condition for dharma’s outward practice, like a mountain-source that keeps a river flowing.
In the Shanti Parva’s reflective discourse on governance and moral life after the war, Arjuna voices a pragmatic observation: poverty can obstruct the proper performance of dharma, while wealth facilitates it. The statement functions as a prompt for deeper discussion on the relationship between artha (material means) and dharma (ethical order).