Shloka 17
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
अनन्तरं क्षत्रियस्य तत्र कि विचिकित्स्यते | यथास्य धर्मों न ग्लायेन्नेयाच्छत्रुवशं यथा । तत् कर्तव्यमिहेत्याहुर्नात्मानवसादयेत्
anantaraṃ kṣatriyasya tatra kiṃ vicikitsyate | yathāsya dharmo na glāyen neyāc chatrūvaśaṃ yathā | tat kartavyam ihāty āhur nātmānam avasādayet |
भीष्म म्हणाले—आपत्ती निवळल्यानंतर क्षत्रियाला येथे कोणता संशय उरतो? त्याने असे वागावे की त्याचा धर्म क्षीण होऊ नये आणि तो शत्रूच्या अधीन जाऊ नये. ज्ञानीजनांनी हेच त्याचे कर्तव्य सांगितले आहे—त्याने स्वतःला खचवू नये, आणि पुन्हा संकटात पडू नये।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A kshatriya’s post-crisis duty is to preserve dharma and political independence: act so that righteous conduct is not weakened and so that one does not become subject to an enemy; do not lapse into self-defeating despair or negligence.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira in the Shanti Parva, he addresses the doubt about what a warrior-ruler should do after danger has passed, and he resolves it by prioritizing the maintenance of dharma and avoidance of subjugation.