Shloka 26

Adhyāya 90 — Protection of Livelihoods, Brahmanical Subsistence Norms, and Royal Oversight (राष्ट्रवृत्ति-राष्ट्रगुप्ति-उपदेशः)

Devanagari script

एषा ते राष्ट्रवत्तिश्न राज्ञां गुप्तिश्न भारत । एतमेवार्थमाश्रित्य भूयो वक्ष्यामि पाण्डव

Transliteration

eṣā te rāṣṭravṛttiś ca rājñāṁ guptiś ca bhārata | etam evārtham āśritya bhūyo vakṣyāmi pāṇḍava bharatanandana ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“噢，婆罗多啊，这便是国王对其国土应持的正当行止，也是诸王得以自保之道。正念此一宗旨，噢，般度之子、婆罗多族之欢悦者，我将就此题再作申说。”

Word by Word

• {'eṣā': 'this (teaching/statement)', 'te': 'to you', 'rāṣṭra': 'kingdom, realm, state', 'vṛttiḥ': 'conduct, policy, mode of governance', 'rājñām': 'of kings', 'guptiḥ': 'protection, security, safeguarding', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (descendant of Bharata

• address to Yudhiṣṭhira)', 'etam eva artham': 'this very purpose/point', 'āśritya': 'having relied on

• taking as the basis', 'bhūyaḥ': 'again, further, moreover', 'vakṣyāmi': 'I shall speak', 'pāṇḍava': 'O son of Pāṇḍu', 'bharatanandana': 'O joy/delight of the Bharatas'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Yudhishthira (addressed as Bharata/Pandava/Bharatanandana)
• rāṣṭra (the realm/kingdom)
• rājā (the king)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma emphasizes that right governance (rāṣṭravṛtti) and the king’s own security (gupti) are inseparable: a ruler is protected by protecting and properly administering the realm, and he will continue explaining this principle as the basis of Rajadharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on Rajadharma, Bhishma addresses Yudhishthira, concluding a point about how a king should deal with the kingdom and stating that this very topic—how such conduct ensures the ruler’s protection—will be developed further in the next portion of his discourse.