Shloka 13
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
कोशं च जनयेद् राजा निर्जलेभ्यो यथा जलम् | काल प्राप्यानुगृह्लीयादेष धर्म: सनातन: । उपायधर्म प्राप्येमं पूर्वराचरितं जनै:
bhīṣma uvāca |
kośaṃ ca janayed rājā nirjalebhyo yathā jalam |
kālaṃ prāpya anugṛhṇīyād eṣa dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ |
upāyadharmaṃ prāpya imaṃ pūrvar ācāritaṃ janaiḥ ||
Bhishma berkata: “Seorang raja hendaknya menumbuhkan perbendaharaannya, sebagaimana orang menarik air bahkan dari tempat yang tampak tak berair. Ketika saat yang tepat kembali, hendaknya ia menganugerahi rakyat dengan kekayaan itu—itulah dharma yang abadi. Para raja terdahulu pun, saat tertimpa bencana, menempuh ‘dharma siasat’ ini dan bertindak demikian.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
In times of crisis a king may, within limits, raise resources even from strained sources to protect the realm; when stability returns, he must use that accumulated wealth to relieve and benefit the people. Pragmatic measures are justified only when paired with later restitution and welfare.
Bhishma, instructing on rajadharma in the Shanti Parva, explains an emergency principle of governance: build the treasury during distress (even by extracting from the poor as feasible), and later, in good times, repay that burden through generosity and public benefit—citing it as an old, established practice of earlier rulers.