Shloka 11
Bhīmasena’s Admonition to Yudhiṣṭhira on Rājya and the Ordering of Dharma–Artha–Kāma
Book 3, Chapter 34
चरेश्षेत्रो5विदित: कालमेतं युक्तो राजन् मोहयित्वा मदीयान् । ब्रवीमि सत्यं कुरुसंसदीह तवैव ता भारत पज्च नद्यः,“भरतवंशी नरेश! यदि आप सावधान रहकर इतने समयतक मेरे गुप्तचरोंको मोहित करके अज्ञात-भावसे ही विचरते रहें तो मैं यहाँ कौरवोंकी सभामें यह सत्य प्रतिज्ञा करता हूँ कि उस सारे पंचनदप्रदेशपर फिर तुम्हारा ही अधिकार होगा
careṣkṣetro ’viditaḥ kālam etaṁ yukto rājan mohayi tvā madīyān | bravīmi satyaṁ kuru-saṁsadīha tavaiva tā bhārata pañca nadyaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O king, if you remain disciplined and move about for this span of time in an unknown guise, successfully confounding my spies, then I declare here in the Kuru assembly a truthful pledge: those five rivers—indeed the whole Pañcanada region—shall be yours alone, O Bhārata.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) and royal self-control: a king’s disciplined conduct and the ethical weight of a public pledge made in an assembly. It also shows that political outcomes are tied to restraint, strategy, and keeping one’s word.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king in the Kuru court, stating that if the king can continue to move about incognito for a set time while evading Yudhiṣṭhira’s spies, Yudhiṣṭhira will publicly affirm that the Pañcanada—land of the five rivers—will belong to that king.