Shloka 31
प्रतीपरक्षितं राष्ट्र त्वां प्राप्प विनशिष्यति । स त्वमस्मद्धितार्थ वै राजा भव महामते,महाराज! तदनन्तर मेरी कल्याणमयी माता सत्यवती, पुरवासी, सेवक, पुरोहित, आचार्य और बहुश्रुत ब्राह्मण अत्यन्त संतप्त हो मुझसे बार-बार कहने लगे--*तुम्हीं राजा होओ, नहीं तो महाराज प्रतीपके द्वारा सुरक्षित राष्ट्र तुम्हारे निकट पहुँचकर नष्ट हो जायगा। अतः महामते! तुम हमारे हितके लिये राजा हो जाओ!
pratīparakṣitaṁ rāṣṭraṁ tvāṁ prāpya vinaśiṣyati | sa tvam asmaddhitārthaṁ vai rājā bhava mahāmate, mahārāja |
Bhishma said: “If you do not accept the throne, this kingdom—protected and preserved since King Pratipa—will come to you only to perish. Therefore, O wise one, for our welfare indeed, become the king, O great king.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Leadership is presented as a dharmic obligation: when the welfare of the realm is at stake, refusing rightful responsibility can itself become a cause of ruin. The appeal is ethical—accept kingship not for ambition but to protect the polity and its dependents.
Bhishma recounts how elders and stakeholders of the kingdom press him (or the addressed prince) to accept the throne, warning that the realm safeguarded since King Pratipa will collapse if he declines. The moment frames succession as urgent statecraft and moral duty.