Shloka 13
Brāhmaṇa-bheda-nirṇaya and Rājā’s Regulatory Duties (ब्राह्मणभेदनिर्णयः)
अवृत्त्या यो भवेत् स्तेनो वेदवित् स्स्नातकस्तथा । राजन स राज्ञा भर्तव्य इति वेदविदो विदु:,नरेश्वर! यदि कोई वेदवेत्ता अथवा स्नातक ब्राह्मण जीविकाके अभावमें चोरी करता हो तो राजाको उचित है कि उसके भरण-पोषणकी व्यवस्था करे; यह वेदवेत्ताओंका मत है
avṛttyā yo bhavet steno vedavit snātakas tathā | rājan sa rājñā bhartavya iti vedavido viduḥ ||
ভীষ্মে ক’লে—হে ৰাজন! জীৱিকাৰ অভাৱত যদি কোনো বেদজ্ঞ—স্নাতক ব্ৰাহ্মণো—চৌৰ্যত পতিত হয়, তেন্তে ৰজাই তাৰ ভৰণ-পোষণৰ ব্যৱস্থা কৰিব লাগে; বেদবিদসকলৰ এই স্থিৰ মত।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Poverty-driven wrongdoing by a Veda-learned person is treated as a failure of social support; the king’s dharma is to prevent such moral collapse by providing maintenance, emphasizing welfare as a pillar of rajadharma.
In the Shanti Parva discourse on kingship and dharma, Bhishma instructs the king that when a Veda-knower or snātaka resorts to theft due to lack of livelihood, the proper royal response is not merely punishment but provision—ensuring sustenance and restoring dharmic order.