Shloka 466
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
गौर्निपानमिवोत्सृज्य पुनरन्यं गमिष्यति । वासव! यह चड्चला राजलक्ष्मी दूसरे बहुत-से राजाओंको लाँधकर इस समय तुम्हारे पास आयी है और कुछ कालतक तुम्हारे यहाँ ठहरकर फिर उसी तरह दूसरेके पास चली जायगी
gaur nipānam ivotsṛjya punar anyaṁ gamiṣyati | vāsava, yā cañcalā rājalakṣmī dvitīyān bahūn rājñaḥ lāṅghayitvā idānīṁ tava samīpam āgatā, sā kiñcit kālaṁ tvayi niveśya punar eva tathānyasya samīpaṁ gamiṣyati, yathā gauḥ jalapānasthānaṁ parityajya gacchati |
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “O Vāsava (Indra), pabagu-bago ang palad ng paghahari. Nilampasan niya ang maraming hari at ngayo’y dumating sa iyo; mananatili lamang siya sa iyo sa loob ng ilang panahon, at saka muling lilisan patungo sa iba—gaya ng baka na, matapos uminom, iniiwan ang isang painuman at nagpapatuloy sa iba.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Royal prosperity and political power are inherently unstable; a wise ruler should not become arrogant or complacent, but govern with dharma and preparedness, knowing that fortune moves on.
Bhishma instructs and cautions the listener (addressed as Vāsava/Indra) by using a simile: just as a cow leaves one watering spot after drinking, so too personified royal fortune (rājalakṣmī) stays briefly with one king and then shifts to another.