Shloka 30
अध्याय ७२ — राजधर्मः: प्रजारक्षण, कर-नीति, दण्ड-नीति, अमात्य-नियोजन
Chapter 72 — Royal Duty: protection of subjects, taxation, punishment, and appointments
स्विष्टि: स्वधीति: सुतपा लोकाञज्जयति यावत: । क्षणेन तानवाप्रोति प्रजा धर्मेण पालयन्
sviṣṭiḥ svadhītiḥ sutapā lokāñ jayati yāvataḥ | kṣaṇena tān avāpnoti prajā dharmeṇa pālayan ||
Bhishma sprach: So weit die Verdienste dessen reichen, der vortreffliche Opfer ordnungsgemäß vollzieht, edles vedisches Studium pflegt und strenge Tapas übt und so glückverheißende Welten gewinnt, ebenso erlangt ein König ebendiese Welten in einem Augenblick, wenn er seine Untertanen gemäß dem Dharma schützt. Der Vers erhebt gerechte Herrschaft zu einem schnellen und machtvollen Weg des Verdienstes und stellt die Pflicht, das Volk zu bewahren, den Früchten der traditionellen Āśrama-Disziplinen gleich (ja, übertrifft sie an Unmittelbarkeit).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Righteous protection and governance of the people (prajā-pālana) is a supreme dharmic act whose spiritual fruit equals the merit of sacrifice, Vedic study, and austerity—and is said to be attained even more swiftly by a just king.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on śānti and rāja-dharma, he contrasts the merits of the āśrama disciplines (yajña, svādhyāya, tapas) with the king’s duty, asserting that a ruler who upholds dharma by protecting subjects gains the same exalted worlds immediately.