Shloka 37
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 113 — Maryādā-sthāpana (Śvetaketu’s Boundary) and the Niyoga Deliberation of Pāṇḍu and Kuntī
शन्तनो राजसिंहस्य भरतस्य च धीमत: । प्रणष्ट: कीर्तिज: शब्द: पाण्डुना पुनराहृत:,राजाओंमें सिंहके समान पराक्रमी शन्तनु तथा परम बुद्धिमान् भरतकी कीर्ति-कथा जो नष्ट-सी हो गयी थी, उसे महाराज पाण्डुने पुनरुज्जीवित कर दिया
vaiśampāyana uvāca | śantano rājasimhasya bharatasya ca dhīmataḥ | praṇaṣṭaḥ kīrtijaḥ śabdaḥ pāṇḍunā punarāhṛtaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The fame-born renown of Śantanu—lion among kings—and of the wise Bharata, which had seemed to fade away, was restored anew by King Pāṇḍu. In this way, Pāṇḍu is portrayed as reviving the moral and royal prestige of his lineage through his conduct and kingship.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king’s duty is not only to rule but to uphold and renew the honor of his lineage through righteous governance; fame (kīrti) is treated as a moral consequence of dharmic kingship.
The narrator states that the celebrated renown of earlier Kuru ancestors—Śantanu and Bharata—had become dim, but King Pāṇḍu revived that reputation, implying he re-established the dynasty’s prestige by his qualities and rule.