Shloka 19
Bhīṣma on the Śara-Śayyā: Yudhiṣṭhira and Kṛṣṇa Approach the Eldest for Śānti
संहारश्वैव भूतानां धर्मस्य च फलोदय: । विदितस्ते महाप्राज्ञ त्वं हि धर्ममयो निधि:
saṃhāraś caiva bhūtānāṃ dharmasya ca phalodayaḥ | viditas te mahāprājña tvaṃ hi dharmamayo nidhiḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana nói: “Hỡi bậc đại trí, ngài đã biết rõ khi nào sự hủy diệt của muôn loài xảy đến, quả của dharma là gì, và khi nào quả ấy chín muồi. Bởi ngài thật là một kho tàng đầy ắp dharma.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma in terms of causality and moral order: dharma yields a ‘fruit’ (phala), and that fruit ‘arises’ (udaya) in due time. It also links cosmic events like destruction (saṃhāra) with intelligible principles known to the wise, implying that ethical law and the timing of consequences are part of a larger order.
Vaiśampāyana addresses a highly learned interlocutor, acknowledging that the person already understands key questions—when destruction of beings occurs and how dharma produces results. The line functions as a respectful preface, elevating the addressee as a repository of dharma before further exposition.