Shloka 26

Adhyāya 90 — Protection of Livelihoods, Brahmanical Subsistence Norms, and Royal Oversight (राष्ट्रवृत्ति-राष्ट्रगुप्ति-उपदेशः)

Devanagari script

एषा ते राष्ट्रवत्तिश्न राज्ञां गुप्तिश्न भारत । एतमेवार्थमाश्रित्य भूयो वक्ष्यामि पाण्डव,भरतनन्दन! यह मैंने राजाके राष्ट्रके साथ किये जानेवाले बर्तावका वर्णन किया। इसीसे राजाओंकी रक्षा होती है। पाण्डुकुमार! इसी विषयको लेकर मैं आगेकी भी बात कहूँगा

Transliteration

eṣā te rāṣṭravṛttiś ca rājñāṁ guptiś ca bhārata | etam evārtham āśritya bhūyo vakṣyāmi pāṇḍava bharatanandana ||

Translation

ഹേ ഭരതനന്ദനാ! രാജാവ് തന്റെ രാജ്യത്തോടു സ്വീകരിക്കേണ്ട യുക്തമായ പെരുമാറ്റം ഞാൻ വിവരിച്ചു; ഇതുതന്നെയാണ് രാജാക്കന്മാർക്ക് രക്ഷാകരമായ മാർഗം. ഹേ പാണ്ഡവാ! ഇതേ ലക്ഷ്യം മുൻനിർത്തി ഞാൻ ഇതേ വിഷയത്തിൽ പിന്നെയും പറയാം.

Word by Word

• {'eṣā': 'this (teaching/statement)', 'te': 'to you', 'rāṣṭra': 'kingdom, realm, state', 'vṛttiḥ': 'conduct, policy, mode of governance', 'rājñām': 'of kings', 'guptiḥ': 'protection, security, safeguarding', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (descendant of Bharata

• address to Yudhiṣṭhira)', 'etam eva artham': 'this very purpose/point', 'āśritya': 'having relied on

• taking as the basis', 'bhūyaḥ': 'again, further, moreover', 'vakṣyāmi': 'I shall speak', 'pāṇḍava': 'O son of Pāṇḍu', 'bharatanandana': 'O joy/delight of the Bharatas'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Yudhishthira (addressed as Bharata/Pandava/Bharatanandana)
• rāṣṭra (the realm/kingdom)
• rājā (the king)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma emphasizes that right governance (rāṣṭravṛtti) and the king’s own security (gupti) are inseparable: a ruler is protected by protecting and properly administering the realm, and he will continue explaining this principle as the basis of Rajadharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on Rajadharma, Bhishma addresses Yudhishthira, concluding a point about how a king should deal with the kingdom and stating that this very topic—how such conduct ensures the ruler’s protection—will be developed further in the next portion of his discourse.