Shloka 2
Adhyāya 223: Nāradasya Guṇa-kathana
Catalogue of Nārada’s Virtues
युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--पितामह! जो राजलक्ष्मीसे भ्रष्ट हो गया हो और कालके दण्डसे पिस गया हो, वह भूपाल किस बुद्धिसे इस पृथ्वीपर विचरे, यह मुझे बताइये ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | atrāpy udāharantīmam itihāsaṃ purātanam | vāsavasya ca saṃvādaṃ baler vairocanasyātha ca ||
Bhīṣma nói: “Chính về điểm này, bậc học giả thường dẫn một điển tích cổ xưa—đó là cuộc đối thoại giữa Vāsava (Indra) và Bali, con của Virocana.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma indicates that questions of conduct—especially for a king who has fallen from prosperity—are best understood through authoritative exemplars. He introduces an ancient dialogue (Indra–Bali) as a moral-ethical case study for right conduct amid loss, punishment of time, and political reversal.
After Yudhishthira asks how a king, deprived of royal fortune and crushed by fate, should live and move about in the world, Bhishma begins his reply by announcing that he will cite an old traditional account: the conversation between Indra (Vasava) and Bali, son of Virocana.