Shloka 123
Kṣātra-Dharma, Daṇḍanīti, and Social Order
Indra–Māndhātṛ Dialogue
अनादिमध्यनिधन देवं नारायण प्रभुम् राजेन्द्र! उन्हीं दिनों मान्धाता नामसे प्रसिद्ध एक पराक्रमी पृथ्वीपालक नरेश हुए थे, जिन्होंने आदि, मध्य और अन्तसे रहित भगवान् नारायणदेवका दर्शन पानेकी इच्छासे एक यज्ञका अनुष्ठान किया
anādimadhyanidhanaṁ devaṁ nārāyaṇaṁ prabhum | rājendra! teṣu dineṣu māndhātā nāma prasiddhaḥ ekaḥ parākramaḥ pṛthvīpālako nareśo 'bhavat | sa ādi-madhya-antarahitaṁ bhagavantaṁ nārāyaṇadevaṁ draṣṭum icchayā ekaṁ yajñaṁ samājahāra/anutiṣṭhat |
ビーシュマは言った。「王の中の王よ、主ナーラーヤナは神なる支配者—始めも中ほども終わりもない。かの時代、マーンダータと名高い、勇猛なる地上の守護王がいた。生起・存続・滅尽を超越するその主ナーラーヤナのダルシャナ（聖なる拝観）を願い、彼は一つの祭祀を執り行った。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames devotion and righteous effort as a kingly ideal: a powerful ruler seeks not merely worldly success but the direct vision of the eternal Lord (Narayana), using sanctioned dharmic means (yajña). It emphasizes God’s transcendence (beyond beginning, middle, and end) and the ethical orientation of rulership toward spiritual aims.
Bhishma, instructing the king (Yudhisthira), introduces an earlier exemplar—King Mandhata—who, desiring to behold Narayana, undertakes a sacrificial rite. This sets up a didactic story about devotion, ritual discipline, and the spiritual aspirations appropriate to a righteous monarch.