Shloka 16
Chapter 78: Royal Responsibility for Wealth, Social Order, and the Protection of Dvijas
Kekaya Exemplum
संविभागं दमं शौचं सौहदं च व्यपाश्रिता: । मम वैश्या: स्वकर्मस्था मामकान्तरमाविश:
saṁvibhāgaṁ damaṁ śaucaṁ sauhṛdaṁ ca vyapāśritāḥ | mama vaiśyāḥ svakarmasthā māmaka-antaraṁ āviśaḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“在我的国度里，吠舍安住本业，依凭公正分配、自我克制、行止清净与和善之心。以正当之道谋生，勤于正行——你又怎能进入我心之深处？”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the ethical foundations expected of the Vaiśya—fair dealing and sharing (saṁvibhāga), self-restraint (dama), purity in conduct (śauca), and social goodwill (sauhṛda)—as marks of living firmly within one’s dharma.
Speaking in the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and governance, Bhishma describes the upright conduct of the Vaiśyas in his kingdom and rhetorically asks how a corrupting influence could still ‘enter within’—underscoring vigilance against inner moral decline even when outer duties appear well maintained.