Shloka 236
राष्ट्र च कोशभूतं स्यात् कोशो वेश्मगतस्तथा । राजाको चाहिये कि वह अपने देशमें लोगोंके पास इकट्ठे हुए धनको आपत्तिके समय काम आनेके लिये बढ़ावे और अपने राष्ट्रको घरमें रखा हुआ खजाना समझे
rāṣṭraṃ ca kośabhūtaṃ syāt kośo veśmagatas tathā | rājā ca āhāryaṃ yat syāt sva-deśe janasaṃnidhau saṃcitaṃ dhanaṃ āpadi kāryārthaṃ vardhayet, rāṣṭraṃ ca veśmani nihitaṃ kośam iva manyeta |
Bhishma said: “Let the kingdom itself be regarded as a treasury, and the treasury as wealth kept safely within one’s house. Therefore a king should increase the wealth accumulated among the people in his own land so that it may serve in times of calamity, and he should look upon his realm as a reserve-fund kept at home.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must treat the realm and its productive capacity as a strategic reserve: nurture and expand the people’s prosperity so that, in emergencies, the state can draw upon stable resources without destroying the social fabric.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhishma advises the king on prudent governance: the treasury should be as secure as wealth kept at home, and the kingdom itself should be managed as a living treasury by fostering accumulated wealth among the subjects for use in times of crisis.