Shloka 10
Chapter 78: Royal Responsibility for Wealth, Social Order, and the Protection of Dvijas
Kekaya Exemplum
नानाप्रदक्षिणैर्यज्ैर्यजन्ते विषये मम । नाधीते नाव्रती कश्षिन्मामकान्तरमाविश:
nānā-pradakṣiṇair yajñair yajante viṣaye mama | nādhīte nāvratī kaścin māmaka-antaraṃ āviśaḥ | mere rājyameṃ samasta dvija nānā prakārakī uttama dakṣiṇāoṃ se yukta yajñoṃ kā anuṣṭhāna karate haiṃ | koī bhī brahmacarya-vrata kā pālana kiye binā vedoṃ kā adhyayana nahīṃ karatā | phira bhī mere śarīra ke bhītara tumhārā praveśa kaise huā? |
“在我的国中，诸‘再生者’以种种祭祀敬奉，具足应行的绕行礼，并施以最上供赠。无人不守持清净戒行而学吠陀。即便如此，你又如何进入我身之内？”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
External religiosity—sacrifices, gifts, and even formal Vedic study—does not automatically guarantee inner purity or protection from subtle moral/spiritual intrusion. The verse highlights the ethical demand for integrity that reaches beyond ritual correctness into the inner life.
Bhishma, speaking in the Shanti Parva, expresses astonishment: although his kingdom is portrayed as properly ordered—Brahmins performing well-endowed sacrifices and observing vows before studying the Veda—some troubling influence or presence has nevertheless entered within him. He questions how such an entry was possible despite outward adherence to dharma.