Daṇḍanīti and the King as the Cause of Yuga-Order (दण्डनीतिः राजधर्मश्च युगकारणत्वम्)
शूद्रा भैक्षेण जीवन्ति ब्राह्मणा: परिचर्यया । योगक्षेमस्य नाशक्ष वर्तते वर्णसंकर:
śūdrā bhaikṣeṇa jīvanti brāhmaṇāḥ paricaryayā | yogakṣemasya nāśaś ca vartate varṇasaṅkaraḥ ||
قال بهيشما: «إذا اضطرّ الشودرَة إلى العيش على التسوّل، واضطرّ البراهمة إلى العيش على خدمةٍ ذليلة، فحينئذٍ ينهار يوغا-كشِما—رفاه الناس وأمنهم—ويتهاوى النظام الاجتماعي إلى اختلاط الفَرْنات (varṇa-saṅkara) والاضطراب.»
भीष्म उवाच
A society prospers when each group can sustain itself through its proper duties; when economic and moral roles invert—begging becomes the lot of the laboring class and servile dependence the lot of the learned—public welfare (yoga-kṣema) collapses and social confusion (varṇasaṅkara) spreads.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance. Here he warns that misrule and disorder distort livelihoods and duties, leading to the loss of the people’s security and prosperity and to widespread social breakdown.