Shloka 25

मृत्यु-काल-प्रबोधनम् (Instruction on Mortality, Time, and Truth) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 169

Devanagari script

तस्य विस्तीर्यते राज्यं ज्योत्स्ना ग्रहपतेरिव । प्रभो! जो अपनी शक्तिके अनुसार कर्तव्यका ठीक-ठीक पालन करते और संतुष्ट रहते हैं

Transliteration

tasya vistīryate rājyaṃ jyotsnā grahapater iva |

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: Vương quốc của vị vua ấy sẽ mở rộng và lan tỏa—như ánh trăng của Chúa tể tinh tú (Mặt Trăng). Khi một bậc quân vương kết minh với những người thật sự ưu tú: kiên định, kỷ luật, đáng tin, thuận theo dharma, thì quyền uy của ngài tự nhiên tăng trưởng, như trăng sáng dần phủ đầy bầu trời đêm.

Word by Word

• तस्य: of him/its
• तस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• विस्तीर्यते: is expanded/spreads
• विस्तीर्यते: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-स्तॄ (स्तॄ)
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Atmanepada, Passive/Impersonal (middle usage)

• राज्यम्: kingdom, realm
• राज्यम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राज्य
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• ज्योत्स्ना: moonlight
• ज्योत्स्ना: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्योत्स्ना
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• ग्रहपतेः: of the lord of planets (the Moon)
• ग्रहपतेः: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ग्रहपति
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• इव: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma (speaker)
• Moon (Candra, implied by grahapati)
• Moonlight (jyotsnā)
• Kingdom/sovereignty (rājya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A king’s power and stability grow when he aligns himself with virtuous, disciplined, trustworthy people; ethical alliances and good counsel cause the realm to expand naturally, like moonlight spreading from the Moon.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rajadharma, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira on statecraft and conduct, using a poetic simile: the king who makes concord with excellent men sees his kingdom broaden like the Moon’s radiance.