Shloka 4
आपद्धर्मे कोशबलन्यायः | Treasury, Force, and Crisis-Ethics for the King
'राजन्! जहाँ वह रमणीय बदरीका वृक्ष है, जहाँ वैहायस- कुण्ड है तथा जहाँ अश्वशिरा (हयग्रीव) सनातन वेदोंका पाठ करते हैं (वहीं नरनारायणाश्रम है) ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | rājan! yatra sā ramaṇīyā badarīkā vṛkṣaḥ, yatra vaihāyasa-kuṇḍaḥ, tathā yatra aśvaśirā (hayagrīvaḥ) sanātanān vedān pāṭhayati (tad eva naranārāyaṇāśramaḥ) || tasmin sarasi kṛtvāhaṃ vidhivat tarpaṇaṃ purā pitṝṇāṃ devatānāṃ ca tato ’śramam iyāṃ tadā ||
毗湿摩曰：“王啊，那罗与那罗延之道场即在彼处——可爱之婆陀梨树立于其间，名为‘毗诃耶娑池’（Vaihāyasa-kuṇḍa）之天湖亦在其旁，而阿湿婆西罗（即海格利瓦，Hayagrīva）于彼诵读永恒之吠陀。昔日我在此湖中依仪轨行‘塔尔帕那’（tarpana）之水供，以慰悦祖灵与诸天；随后当时，我便前往那座道场。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma through disciplined sacred practice: honoring ancestors and gods via vidhivat tarpaṇa, and grounding spiritual pursuit in places and lineages associated with Vedic preservation (Hayagrīva’s recitation) and austere devotion (Nara–Nārāyaṇa).
Bhīṣma describes the location of Nara–Nārāyaṇa’s hermitage by naming its sacred markers (Badarī tree, Vaihāyasa-kuṇḍa, Hayagrīva’s Vedic recitation). He then recounts that he performed tarpaṇa in the lake for ancestors and gods and afterward went to the hermitage.