Shloka 63
Daṇḍanīti and the King as the Cause of Yuga-Order (दण्डनीतिः राजधर्मश्च युगकारणत्वम्)
निर्वेदयित्वा तु परं हत्वा वा कुरुनन्दन । ततो5नृणो भवेद् राजा यथा शाम्त्रे निदर्शितम्
nirvedayitvā tu paraṃ hatvā vā kurunandana | tato 'nṛṇo bhaved rājā yathā śāstre nidarśitam ||
قال بهيشما: «يا بهجة آل كورو، إذا أرهق الملكُ عدوَّه حتى الغاية (بالتأديب) أو قتله، صار بعد ذلك بريئًا من التبعة—على أن يعمل عملًا مطابقًا لما تقرّره الشاسترا: بأن يكرّم (العدوَّ الساقط وذريته) بالعطايا، وبإظهار الاحترام، وبإقامة الشعائر الواجبة.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when a king must punish or kill an enemy, he should not act from mere vengeance; he must follow śāstric procedure and then discharge residual moral/ritual obligations by honoring the fallen foe (and his lineage) through appropriate respect, gifts, and rites—thus becoming anṛṇa, free of debt.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on rājadharma in Śānti Parva, he advises Yudhiṣṭhira that after subduing an adversary—either by exhausting him through chastisement or by killing him—the king should complete the act in a regulated, dharmic way, including post-conflict honoring, so that the king’s duty is fulfilled without lingering obligation.