Shloka 26
दुर्ग-निवेश-राजधर्मः | Fortified Capital and the King’s Residential Polity
Rājadharma
राजा आश्रमोंमें यथासमय वस्त्र, बर्तन और भोजन आदि सामग्री सदा ही भेजा करे, तथा सबको सत्कार, पूजन एवं सम्मानपूर्वक वे वस्तुएँ अर्पित करे ।।
rājā āśrameṣu yathāsamayaṃ vastra-bhājana-bhojanādi-sāmagrīṃ sadaiva preṣayet, tathā sarvān satkāra-pūjana-sammāna-pūrvakaṃ tāni vastūni arpayet. ātmānaṃ sarva-kāryāṇi tāpase rāṣṭram eva ca nivedayet prayatnena, tiṣṭhet praṇataḥ sarvadā.
Bhīṣma dit : Aux moments convenables, le roi doit envoyer continuellement aux ermitages des provisions telles que vêtements, récipients et nourriture, et les offrir avec hospitalité, vénération et honneur. De plus, il doit rapporter avec soin aux ascètes de son royaume ce qui concerne sa personne, l’ensemble des affaires du gouvernement et l’état du pays, et se tenir toujours devant eux avec humilité et déférence.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Royal authority should be exercised with reverence and accountability: the king must materially support ascetics and hermitages, and he must remain humble, regularly informing them about personal conduct, state affairs, and the kingdom’s condition—treating spiritual discipline as a guiding check on political power.
In Bhishma’s instruction on rajadharma in the Shanti Parva, he advises the ruler on practical and ethical conduct: sending regular provisions to hermitages, offering them respectfully, and maintaining a deferential relationship with the realm’s ascetics by reporting affairs and standing before them with humility.