Shloka 5
प्रत्यक्ष सुखभूयिष्ठमात्मसाक्षिकमच्छलम् । सर्वलोकहितं धर्म क्षत्रियेषु प्रतेष्ठितम्,जो धर्म प्रत्यक्ष है, अधिक सुखमय है, आत्माके सरक्षित्वसे युक्त है, छलरहित है तथा सर्वलोकहितकारी है, वह धर्म क्षत्रियोंमें प्रतिष्ठित है
pratyakṣa-sukha-bhūyiṣṭham ātma-sākṣikam acchalam | sarva-loka-hitaṃ dharmaṃ kṣatriyeṣu pratiṣṭhitam ||
ビーシュマは言った。「直接に明らかで、安寧に満ち、己が内なる自己によって証され、欺きなく、あらゆる世界の利益となるそのダルマは、クシャトリヤのうちに堅固に स्थापितされている。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma defines an ideal standard of dharma: it should be plainly verifiable in lived experience, endorsed by one’s inner moral witness (ātma-sākṣin), free from deceit, and oriented to the welfare of all. He then links this standard to the kshatriya sphere, implying that righteous governance and protection must be transparent, conscientious, and universally beneficial.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct after the war, Bhishma is teaching Yudhishthira about dharma. Here he characterizes the kind of dharma that should guide the warrior-ruler class: conduct that can be defended openly, is not based on cunning, and serves the common good.