Shloka 20
कुब्जानुग्रहः, धनुर्भङ्गः, कुवलयापीडवधः, मल्लयुद्धं, कंसवधः, स्तुतयः
न्यायतो ऽन्यायतो वापि भवद्भ्यां तौ ममाहितौ हन्तव्यौ तद्वधाद् राज्यं सामान्यं वो भविष्यति
nyāyato 'nyāyato vāpi bhavadbhyāṃ tau mamāhitau hantavyau tadvadhād rājyaṃ sāmānyaṃ vo bhaviṣyati
سواء كان ذلك بوسائل مشروعة أو غير مشروعة، يجب عليكما قتل هذين الاثنين اللذين أصبحا عدوين لي. وبموتهما، ستصبح المملكة ملكية مشتركة لكما.
Unspecified within the provided excerpt (a king/authority-figure issuing counsel within the dynastic narrative, as narrated by Sage Parāśara to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: Kṛṣṇa allows adharma to declare itself openly—‘by any means’—so its destruction becomes publicly justified and spiritually instructive.
Leela: Loka-rakshana
Dharma Restored: Reassertion that kingship must be rooted in dharma, not expediency
Concept: ‘Ends justify means’ is presented as the hallmark of adharma—when rulers abandon justice, they forfeit legitimacy and invite downfall.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Do not compromise ethical means for short-term gain; in leadership, set non-negotiable moral boundaries.
Vishishtadvaita: Dharma is the Lord’s ordinance within the world; violating it fractures right order and triggers corrective divine action through avatāra.
Vishnu Form: Krishna
FAQs
The verse highlights a realpolitik tension in rājadharma: restoring stability is presented as paramount, even when the means blur the line between dharma and adharma.
Through lineage narratives, Parāśara often presents kingship as a mechanism for maintaining social order, where counsel and succession decisions shape the continuity of rule.
Even when Vishnu is not named in a given verse, the Purana’s political order ultimately rests on Vishnu as the sustaining principle—kingship functions as an instrument for preserving cosmic and social stability.