Varṇa-dharma and Rājadharma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Outline (वर्णधर्म-राजधर्म-प्रश्नोत्तरम्)
त॑ साक्षात् पृथिवी भेजे रत्नान्यादाय पाण्डव
tāṁ sākṣāt pṛthivī bheje ratnāny ādāya pāṇḍava, pāṇḍunandana yudhiṣṭhira! tadā sākṣāt pṛthivī-devī ratnānāṁ bheṭaṁ gṛhītvā teṣāṁ sevāyām upasthitā āsīt. saritāṁ svāmī samudraḥ, parvateṣu śreṣṭho himavān tathā devarāja indraś ca akṣaya-dhanaṁ samarpitavān.
Dijo Bhīṣma: «¡Oh Pāṇḍava, oh Yudhiṣṭhira, hijo de Pāṇḍu! Entonces la propia Tierra, en persona, acudió llevando joyas como ofrenda y quedando dispuesta al servicio. El Océano, señor de los ríos; el Himālaya, el más excelso de los montes; e Indra, rey de los dioses, ofrecieron asimismo riquezas inagotables».
भीष्म उवाच
Righteous rule aligned with dharma is portrayed as harmonizing the human and cosmic realms: when a king embodies dharma, even the powers of nature and the gods are said to support him with prosperity, symbolizing legitimacy, stability, and the ethical fruit of just governance.
Bhīṣma describes a moment when personified Earth arrives with jewels to serve/offer tribute, and other great cosmic entities—Ocean, Himālaya, and Indra—also present inexhaustible wealth, emphasizing the extraordinary support surrounding Yudhiṣṭhira (or a dharmic ruler) in that context.