Shloka 16
Chapter 78: Royal Responsibility for Wealth, Social Order, and the Protection of Dvijas
Kekaya Exemplum
संविभागं दमं शौचं सौहदं च व्यपाश्रिता: । मम वैश्या: स्वकर्मस्था मामकान्तरमाविश:
saṁvibhāgaṁ damaṁ śaucaṁ sauhṛdaṁ ca vyapāśritāḥ | mama vaiśyāḥ svakarmasthā māmaka-antaraṁ āviśaḥ ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Sa aking kaharian, ang mga vaiśya, matatag sa sariling tungkulin, ay umaasa sa makatarungang pamamahagi, pagpipigil-sa-sarili, kalinisan ng asal, at mabuting kalooban. Namumuhay sila sa tapat na paraan at nakatuon sa matuwid na gawa; paano mo nagawang makapasok hanggang sa aking puso?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the ethical foundations expected of the Vaiśya—fair dealing and sharing (saṁvibhāga), self-restraint (dama), purity in conduct (śauca), and social goodwill (sauhṛda)—as marks of living firmly within one’s dharma.
Speaking in the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and governance, Bhishma describes the upright conduct of the Vaiśyas in his kingdom and rhetorically asks how a corrupting influence could still ‘enter within’—underscoring vigilance against inner moral decline even when outer duties appear well maintained.