Shloka 15

दुर्ग-निवेश-राजधर्मः | Fortified Capital and the King’s Residential Polity

Rājadharma

Devanagari script

आशयाश्रोदपानाश्च प्रभूतसलिलाकरा: | निरोद्धव्या: सदा राज्ञा क्षीरिणशक्षु महीरुहा:

Transliteration

āśayāś codapānāś ca prabhūtasalilākarāḥ | niroddhavyāḥ sadā rājñā kṣīriṇaś ca mahīruhāḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : «Un roi doit toujours protéger les réservoirs et les sources d’eau — étangs et bassins, puits et puits à degrés, grands lacs riches d’eaux abondantes — ainsi que les arbres à sève laiteuse. Cette protection soutient le bien du peuple et affermit la royauté selon le dharma.»

Word by Word

• आशया: reservoirs/ponds
• आशया: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आशय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• उदपानाः: wells
• उदपानाः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: उदपान
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• प्रभूत-सलिल-आकराः: having abundant water-reserves
• प्रभूत-सलिल-आकराः: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रभूतसलिलाकर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• निरोध्याः: to be protected/kept from obstruction (i.e., maintained)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निरोध्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सदा: always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा

• राज्ञा: by the king
• राज्ञा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• क्षीरिणः: milk-yielding
• क्षीरिणः: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षीरिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• महीरुहाः: trees (lit. earth-growers)
• महीरुहाः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: महीरुह
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• king (rājā)
• āśaya (reservoirs/ponds)
• udapāna (wells/stepwells)
• prabhūtasalilākarāḥ (large abundant water-bodies)
• kṣīriṇaḥ mahīruhāḥ (milky sap-bearing trees)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler’s dharma includes protecting essential commons—water bodies (ponds, wells, large reservoirs) and life-sustaining trees—because they secure health, agriculture, and social stability; this is presented as an ongoing royal duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma advises the king that safeguarding water sources and sap-bearing trees is a constant responsibility of governance, emphasizing practical welfare as a component of righteousness.