Shloka 20
Chapter 78: Royal Responsibility for Wealth, Social Order, and the Protection of Dvijas
Kekaya Exemplum
तपस्विनो मे विषये पूजिता: परिपालिता: । संविभक्ताश्न सत्कृत्य मामकान्तरमाविश:
tapasvino me viṣaye pūjitāḥ paripālitāḥ | saṃvibhaktāś ca satkṛtya māmakaṃ antarāmāviśaḥ |
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Sa aking kaharian, lagi kong pinararangalan at pinangangalagaan ang mga rishi na mapag-asetiko; matapos ko silang tanggapin nang may paggalang, ibinabahagi ko sa kanila ang mga kinakailangan. Gayunman, paano naging maaari ang pagpasok mo sa kaloob-looban ng aking katawan?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the dharmic duty of honoring and protecting ascetics through respectful hospitality and fair provision, while also raising a moral question: even when one performs outward duties, hidden faults or deeper karmic causes may still allow suffering or impurity to ‘enter within’.
Bhishma addresses an unseen or internalized presence (spoken to as ‘you’), expressing surprise that it could enter his body despite his consistent reverence, protection, and generous support of ascetic sages in his kingdom.