Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 105
धनुर्धरो धनुर्वेदो दण्डो दमयिता दम: । अपराजित: सर्वसहो नियन्ता नियमोडयम:
dhanurdharo dhanurvedo daṇḍo damayitā damaḥ | aparājitaḥ sarvasaho niyantā aniyamo 'yamaḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「彼は弓を執る者であり、弓術そのものでもある。彼は懲罰の杖であり、戒める者であり、戒めそのものでもある。敵に屈せず、すべてを耐え忍び、衆生をそれぞれの務めへと配する統御者である——しかも彼は何の規則にも縛られず、外から制する者もない、至高の自立者である。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True authority combines martial competence (dhanurdhara, dhanurveda) with ethical governance: punishment (daṇḍa) is meant to discipline and reform (dama), the ruler must be resilient (sarvasaha) and invincible in resolve (aparājita), and the highest sovereignty is self-governed—answerable to no coercive power (aniyama, ayama).
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction by praising an exemplary figure through a chain of epithets, portraying the ideal upholder of order: a master archer and a just disciplinarian who regulates society while remaining supremely independent.