Shloka 473
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
त्वत्तो बहुतराश्चान्ये भविष्यन्ति पुरंदर । पुरंदर! अबतक इसने जितने राजाओंका परित्याग किया है, उनकी गणना मैं नहीं कर सकता। तुम्हारे बाद भी बहुत-से नरेश इसके अधिकारी होंगे
tvattō bahutarāś cānye bhaviṣyanti puraṃdara |
Bhīṣma disse: “Ó Purandara, depois de ti virão muitos outros—muito mais numerosos—para exercer a autoridade. Na verdade, nem consigo contar quantos reis esta fortuna régia já abandonou; e mesmo após ti, muitos soberanos serão seus legítimos possuidores.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma underscores the impermanence of royal power and fortune: sovereignty does not belong permanently to any one ruler. This perspective encourages humility, restraint, and dharmic governance, since authority is transient and will pass to others.
Bhīṣma addresses ‘Purandara’ (Indra) to illustrate how kingship/royal fortune repeatedly shifts from one ruler to another. He remarks that countless kings have already been abandoned by it, and that many more will hold it after the one being addressed—emphasizing the cyclical, unstable nature of political power.