Shloka 5
भीष्मद्रोणयोर्दुर्योधनं प्रति शान्त्युपदेशः | Bhīṣma and Droṇa’s Counsel to Duryodhana for Pacification
ज्वलितां त्वमिमां लक्ष्मी भारतीं सर्वराजसु । जीवतो धुृतराष्ट्रस्य दौरात्म्याद् भ्रंशयिष्यसि
jvalitāṃ tvam imāṃ lakṣmīṃ bhāratīṃ sarvarājasu | jīvato dhṛtarāṣṭrasya daurātmyād bhraṃśayiṣyasi ||
ज्वलितां त्वमिमां लक्ष्मीं भारतीं सर्वराजसु। जीवतो धृतराष्ट्रस्य दौरात्म्याद् भ्रंशयिष्यसि॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Royal prosperity and legitimacy (lakṣmī) are sustained by dharma; when a leader acts from daurātmya (moral depravity), he can destroy even a flourishing dynasty’s standing, bringing downfall not only upon himself but upon the entire realm.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war counsel and warnings, a speaker foresees that the Bharata royal fortune, presently resplendent among kings, will be ruined by the addressee’s wicked conduct—so severe that the collapse will occur even during Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s lifetime.