Shloka 466
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
गौर्निपानमिवोत्सृज्य पुनरन्यं गमिष्यति । वासव! यह चड्चला राजलक्ष्मी दूसरे बहुत-से राजाओंको लाँधकर इस समय तुम्हारे पास आयी है और कुछ कालतक तुम्हारे यहाँ ठहरकर फिर उसी तरह दूसरेके पास चली जायगी
gaur nipānam ivotsṛjya punar anyaṁ gamiṣyati | vāsava, yā cañcalā rājalakṣmī dvitīyān bahūn rājñaḥ lāṅghayitvā idānīṁ tava samīpam āgatā, sā kiñcit kālaṁ tvayi niveśya punar eva tathānyasya samīpaṁ gamiṣyati, yathā gauḥ jalapānasthānaṁ parityajya gacchati |
Dijo Bhīṣma: «Oh Vāsava (Indra), la fortuna real es inconstante. Tras pasar por alto a muchos otros reyes, ahora ha venido a ti; se quedará contigo sólo por un tiempo y luego partirá de nuevo hacia otro, como la vaca que, después de beber, abandona un abrevadero y sigue su camino».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Royal prosperity and political power are inherently unstable; a wise ruler should not become arrogant or complacent, but govern with dharma and preparedness, knowing that fortune moves on.
Bhishma instructs and cautions the listener (addressed as Vāsava/Indra) by using a simile: just as a cow leaves one watering spot after drinking, so too personified royal fortune (rājalakṣmī) stays briefly with one king and then shifts to another.