Shloka 23

आपद्धर्मे कोशबलन्यायः | Treasury, Force, and Crisis-Ethics for the King

Devanagari script

एवमुक्तो5$भिवाद्याथ तमृषिं लोकपूजितम्‌ | श्रान्तो5वसीदद्‌ धर्मात्मा यथा त्वं नरसत्तम,(ऋषभ कहते हैं--) नरश्रेष्ठ] उनके ऐसा कहनेपर उन लोकपूजित महर्षिको प्रणाम करके धर्मात्मा राजा वीरघ्युम्न तुम्हारे ही समान थककर शिथिल हो गये

Transliteration

evam ukto ’bhivādyātha tam ṛṣiṃ lokapūjitam | śrānto ’vasīdad dharmātmā yathā tvaṃ narasattama ||

Translation

असे ऐकून त्याने लोकपूज्य त्या ऋषींना प्रणाम केला. मग तो धर्मात्मा पुरुष थकून शिथिल झाला—जसा, नरश्रेष्ठा, तू आत्ता झाला आहेस।

Word by Word

एवम्thus

उक्तःhaving been spoken to / addressed

अभिवाद्यhaving saluted

अथthen

तम्him

ऋषिम्sage

लोकपूजितम्worshipped by the world

श्रान्तःwearied

अवसीदत्sat down / sank down / became dejected

धर्मात्माrighteous-souled

यथाas / just as

त्वम्you

नरसत्तमO best of men

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

a world-revered ṛṣi (sage)

narasattama (the addressed listener, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira in context)

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?

Even a dharmic person, after doing what is proper—especially honoring the wise—may still be overcome by fatigue; the verse underscores humility, reverence, and the recognition of human limits within the pursuit of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

After being spoken to, the person in the story respectfully salutes a universally revered sage and then, exhausted, sits or sinks down; the speaker compares this weariness to the present state of the listener addressed as ‘best of men.’