Shloka 53

Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)

Devanagari script

कच्चिज्जितेन्द्रियो राजा कच्चिदस्यान्तरा जिता:,क्या इस देशके राजा जितेन्द्रिय हैं? क्या इनके अंदर रहनेवाले सेवक इनके वशरभें हैं? क्या यहाँकी प्रजाओंका राजापर प्रेम है? और राजा भी क्‍या अपनी प्रजाओंपर प्रेम रखते हैं? नृपश्रेष्ठ! इन्हीं सब बातोंको जाननेकी इच्छासे मैं आपके यहाँ आया था

Transliteration

kaccij jitendriyo rājā kaccid asyāntarā jitāḥ

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“此国之王可曾自制，降伏诸根？而居于其国之内、近侍与官属等内廷之人，是否真能以纪律与忠诚而受约束？”借此发问，毗湿摩探察王道的伦理根基：君主能否制欲息怒，臣属是否端正无私；若无此二者，君民相爱与政权安定皆难长久。

Word by Word

• कच्चित्: whether?, I hope
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कच्चित्

• जितेन्द्रियः: self-controlled (having conquered the senses)
• जितेन्द्रियः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जितेन्द्रिय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• राजा: king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कच्चित्: whether?, I hope
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कच्चित्

• अस्य: of him/this (king/realm)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• अन्तराः: those within; insiders (attendants/servants)
• अन्तराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्तर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• जिताः: conquered; subdued
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rājā (the king)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A kingdom’s welfare depends first on the ruler’s self-mastery (jitendriyatā) and then on the discipline and reliability of those closest to power; ethical governance begins with inner conquest before outward rule.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, speaking on principles of rājadharma, frames a set of diagnostic questions about a king’s character and the conduct of his inner circle, as a way to assess whether the realm is governed with stability, loyalty, and moral restraint.