Shloka 105
धनुर्धरो धनुर्वेदो दण्डो दमयिता दम: । अपराजित: सर्वसहो नियन्ता नियमोडयम:
dhanurdharo dhanurvedo daṇḍo damayitā damaḥ | aparājitaḥ sarvasaho niyantā aniyamo 'yamaḥ ||
भीष्म उवाच— धनुर्धरो धनुर्वेदो दण्डो दमयिता दमः। अपराजितः सर्वसहो नियन्ता अनियमोऽयमः॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True authority combines martial competence (dhanurdhara, dhanurveda) with ethical governance: punishment (daṇḍa) is meant to discipline and reform (dama), the ruler must be resilient (sarvasaha) and invincible in resolve (aparājita), and the highest sovereignty is self-governed—answerable to no coercive power (aniyama, ayama).
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction by praising an exemplary figure through a chain of epithets, portraying the ideal upholder of order: a master archer and a just disciplinarian who regulates society while remaining supremely independent.