Shloka 32

राजा-दैवतत्वम् — The King as a Stabilizing ‘Daivata’ (Divine Function) in Social Order

Devanagari script

ततो महीं परिययौ पर्जन्य इव वृष्टिमान्‌ । शमयन्‌ सर्वतः पापान्‌ स्वकर्मसु च योजयन्‌

Transliteration

tato mahīṁ pariyayau parjanya iva vṛṣṭimān | śamayan sarvataḥ pāpān svakarmasu ca yojayan

Translation

ຈາກນັ້ນ ພຣະອົງໄດ້ທ່ອງໄປທົ່ວແຜ່ນດິນ ດັ່ງເມກທີ່ອຸ້ມຝົນ ບັນເທົາແລະຊຳລະບາບທົ່ວທິດ ແລະນຳພາຜູ້ຄົນໃຫ້ຕັ້ງຢູ່ໃນໜ້າທີ່ອັນຖືກຕ້ອງຕາມທຳຂອງຕົນ (svakarma)។

Word by Word

ततःthen; thereafter

महीम्the earth

परिययौwent around; traversed

पर्जन्यःthe rain-cloud; Parjanya

इवlike; as if

वृष्टिमान्rain-bearing; full of rain

शमयन्pacifying; quelling

सर्वतःon all sides; everywhere

पापान्sins; evils

स्वकर्मसुin their own duties/actions

चand

योजयन्engaging; appointing; causing to be joined

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Parjanya (rain-cloud/rain-god)

Mahī (the earth)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A righteous leader (or exemplary person) benefits society by reducing wrongdoing and re-establishing people in their proper duties (svakarma). Ethical order is portrayed as something that can be restored through guidance, discipline, and dharmic alignment—like rain that cools and cleanses the world.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes a figure who travels across the land, compared to a rain-bearing cloud. As he moves, he pacifies evils everywhere and directs people back to their appropriate occupations and responsibilities, implying the spread of dharma and the stabilization of society.