Shloka 20
Brāhmaṇa-vandana: Criteria for Veneration, Disciplined Speech, and Protective Kingship (अनुशासनपर्व, अध्याय ८)
यथा भार्त्राश्रियो धर्म: स्त्रीणां लोके युधिष्ठिर । स देव: सा गतिर्नन्या क्षत्रियस्य तथा द्विजा:
yathā bhartṛ-āśrayo dharmaḥ strīṇāṃ loke yudhiṣṭhira | sa devaḥ sā gatir nānyā kṣatriyasya tathā dvijāḥ ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Kung paanong, O Yudhiṣṭhira, sa mundong ito ang dharma ng isang babae ay nauunawaang nakasalalay sa kanyang asawa—siya lamang ang kanyang diyos at ang kanyang pinakamataas na kanlungan, at wala nang ibang huling hantungan—gayon din para sa isang kṣatriya: ang paglilingkod at paggalang sa mga brāhmaṇa ang pinakadakilang dharma. Ang mga brāhmaṇa ang kanyang diyos at ang kanyang pinakamataas na kanlungan; wala nang iba.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma frames dharma as a relationship of acknowledged dependence and reverence: as a wife’s social-religious duty is portrayed as centered on her husband as ‘deva’ and ‘gati’, so a kṣatriya’s highest duty is to honor and serve brāhmaṇas, treating them as the primary spiritual authority and refuge.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira on proper conduct and social duties. Here he uses an analogy to emphasize the kṣatriya’s obligation to support and defer to brāhmaṇas as part of maintaining dharma in society.