Shloka 27

Kṣātra-dharma as the Public Foundation of Dharma (क्षात्रधर्म-प्रशंसा)

Devanagari script

सर्वे धर्मा राजधर्मप्रधाना: सर्वे वर्णा: पाल्यमाना भवन्ति । सर्वस्त्यागो राजधर्मेषु राजं- स्त्यागं धर्म चाहुरग्र्यं पुराणम्‌

Transliteration

sarve dharmā rājadharma-pradhānāḥ sarve varṇāḥ pālyamānā bhavanti | sarvas-tyāgo rājadharmeṣu rājan tyāgaṃ dharmaṃ cāhur agryaṃ purāṇam ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：一切达摩，实则以王法（rājadharma）为根本；因为凭此，诸社会阶序皆得护持与养育。大王啊，在治国之责中包含一切形式的舍弃；诸圣贤宣称，舍弃乃最高且最古之达摩。

Word by Word

• {'sarve': 'all', 'dharmāḥ': 'duties

• dharmas', 'rājadharma-pradhānāḥ': 'having royal duty as the chief/primary (foundation)', 'varṇāḥ': 'social orders/classes (varṇas)', 'pālyamānāḥ': 'being protected, maintained, governed', 'bhavanti': 'come to be

• are (maintained)', 'sarvaḥ tyāgaḥ / sarvas-tyāgaḥ': 'all kinds of renunciation

• complete giving up (of selfishness/possessiveness)', 'rājadharmeṣu': 'in the duties of kingship

• in royal dharma', 'rājan': 'O King', 'tyāgam': 'renunciation

• relinquishment', 'dharmaṃ': 'as dharma

• a righteous principle', 'āhuḥ': 'they say

• they declare', 'agryam': 'foremost

• highest', 'purāṇam': 'ancient

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• the King (Yudhishthira, implied)
• rishis/sages (ṛṣayaḥ, implied by āhuḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches that rājadharma (the ethical duties of rulership) is foundational because it safeguards society as a whole; and that true kingship must be rooted in tyāga—renunciation of selfish interest—since sages regard renunciation as the highest and most ancient form of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on statecraft and moral governance after the war. Here he emphasizes that the king’s duty sustains all social orders and that the ruler must practice renunciation as an essential element of just rule.