Shloka 26
Chapter 78: Royal Responsibility for Wealth, Social Order, and the Protection of Dvijas
Kekaya Exemplum
नमे राष्ट्रे विधवा ब्रह्मबन्धु- न॑ ब्राह्मण: कितवो नोत चोर: । अयाज्ययाजी न च पापकर्मा न मे भयं विद्यते राक्षसेभ्य:,मेरे राज्यमें कोई स्त्री विधवा नहीं है तथा कोई भी ब्राह्मण अधम, धूर्त, चोर, अनधिकारियोंका यज्ञ करानेवाला और पापाचारी नहीं है; इसलिये मुझे राक्षसोंसे तनिक भी भय नहीं है
na me rāṣṭre vidhavā brahmabandhur na brāhmaṇaḥ kitavo nota coraḥ | ayājyayājī na ca pāpakarmā na me bhayaṁ vidyate rākṣasebhyaḥ ||
भीष्म उवाच—न मे राष्ट्रे विधवा काचिदस्ति, न ब्रह्मबन्धुर्नाधमो ब्राह्मणः; न कितवो न चोरः। न चायाज्ययाजी, न च पापकर्मा कश्चन। तस्मान्मे राक्षसेभ्यो भयं न विद्यते।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s security is grounded in dharma: when society is free from exploitation, crime, and corrupt ritual practice, the realm becomes spiritually and socially protected—so even ‘external’ threats like rākṣasas are not feared.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on governance and social ethics, Bhishma describes the moral condition of a well-ordered kingdom—no vulnerable widows left unprotected, no criminality, and no religious corruption—and concludes that such righteousness removes fear of hostile forces.