Shloka 326
धन-राजधर्म संवादः
Discourse on Wealth and Royal Duty
एवं राजकुलाद् वित्त पृथिवीं प्रति तिष्ठति । प्राचीनकालमें जो राजर्षि हो गये हैं
evaṁ rājakulād vittam pṛthivīṁ prati tiṣṭhati | prācīna-kāle ye rājarṣayo gatāḥ, ye ca sāmprataṁ svarge nivasanti, teṣām api mate rāja-dharmasyaivam eva vyākhyā kṛtā—yathā pūrṇād mahāsāgarād jalāni megha-rūpeṇotthāya sarvā diśo varṣanti, tathā rājabhyo nirgataṁ dhanaṁ sarvāṁ pṛthivīṁ vyāpnoti ||
Arjuna said: “Thus wealth, issuing from royal households, comes to rest upon the earth at large. The royal sages of old—who have gone before and now dwell in heaven—also explain the king’s duty in this very way: just as water rises from the full ocean in the form of clouds and rains upon every quarter, so too riches flow out from kings and spread throughout the whole earth.”
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king’s righteous duty includes circulating wealth outward for the benefit of the whole realm; hoarded riches should move through society like rain that nourishes all directions.
Arjuna speaks within the Shanti Parva’s discussion of rāja-dharma, citing the authority of ancient rājarṣis and using the ocean-to-cloud-to-rain image to explain how wealth should flow from rulers to the entire earth.