Shloka 7
Kṣātra-Dharma, Daṇḍanīti, and Social Order
Indra–Māndhātṛ Dialogue
राजधर्मेष्वनुमता लोका: सुचरितै: सह । उदाद्वतं ते राजेन्द्र यथा विष्णुं महौजसम्
bhīṣma uvāca | rājadharmeṣv anumātā lokāḥ sucaritaiḥ saha | udāhṛtaṃ te rājendra yathā viṣṇuṃ mahaujasam ||
Bhishma sprach: „O König, alle Welten—mitsamt ihrer edlen Lebensführung—gelten als im Königs-Dharma enthalten. Ich habe dir dies bereits dargelegt, o Rajendra, wie ich einst die Begebenheit um den machtvollen Vishnu erzählte. In früheren Zeiten traten viele heldenhafte Herrscher, um die Daṇḍanīti—die Wissenschaft der Regierung und der gerechten Strafe—zu erlangen, zum allgegenwärtigen, höchst strahlenden Herrn Nārāyaṇa, dem Gebieter aller Wesen, und suchten bei ihm Zuflucht.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that rajadharma is comprehensive: the welfare and moral order of the worlds, along with virtuous conduct, are sustained through righteous kingship. Governance is therefore an ethical responsibility, not merely political power.
Bhishma reminds the king that he has already explained how all social order is included within rajadharma, and he introduces (or recalls) an illustrative ancient episode in which many warrior-kings sought instruction in statecraft (dandaniti) by taking refuge in the all-pervading Lord Narayana/Vishnu.