Shloka 25

Kṣātra-dharma as the Public Foundation of Dharma (क्षात्रधर्म-प्रशंसा)

Devanagari script

यथा राजन हस्तिपदे पदानि संलीयन्ते सर्वसत्त्वोदूभवानि । एवं धर्मान्‌ राजधर्मेषु सर्वान्‌ सर्वावस्थान्‌ सम्प्रलीनान्‌ निबोध,नरेश्वर! जैसे हाथीके पदचिह्ममें सभी प्राणियोंके पदचिह्न विलीन हो जाते हैं, उसी प्रकार सब धर्मोको सभी अवस्थाओंमें राजधर्मके भीतर ही समाविष्ट हुआ समझो

Transliteration

yathā rājan hastipade padāni saṃlīyante sarvasattvodbhavāni | evaṃ dharmān rājadharmeṣu sarvān sarvāvasthān sampralīnān nibodha, nareśvara ||

Translation

ພີສະມະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ໂອ ພະຣາຊາ, ເຫມືອນຮອຍຕີນຂອງສັດທັງປວງຖືກຮວບຮວມແລະຫາຍໄປໃນຮອຍຕີນຊ້າງ, ດັ່ງນັ້ນແຫຼະ ໂອ ເຈົ້າແຫ່ງມະນຸດ, ຈົ່ງເຂົ້າໃຈວ່າ ທຳມະທັງປວງ ໃນທຸກສະພາບຂອງຊີວິດ ຖືກຮວມໄວ້ໃນຣາຊະທຳມະ (rājadharma)».

Word by Word

यथाjust as

राजन्O king

हस्ति-पदेin the elephant’s footprint

पदानिfootprints

संलीयन्तेmerge, are absorbed

सर्व-सत्त्व-उद्भवानिarising from all beings (i.e., of all creatures)

एवम्thus, in the same way

धर्मान्duties, dharmas

राज-धर्मेषुin the king’s duties / in royal dharma

सर्वान्all

सर्व-अवस्थान्all conditions/stages

सम्प्रलीनान्merged, absorbed

निबोधunderstand, know

नर-ईश्वरO lord of men

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

rājan (the king, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira as addressee)

hasti (elephant)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches that rājadharma—the king’s duty to protect, punish justly, and uphold order—is overarching: it gathers and coordinates all other dharmas, because the stability of society enables every other duty (personal, familial, ascetic, ritual) to be practiced.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva, Bhishma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on governance after the war. Here he uses the elephant-footprint simile to emphasize the centrality of royal duty in sustaining the wider moral and social framework.