Shloka 9
उतथ्योपदेशः—राजधर्मः, दर्पनिग्रहः, प्रजारक्षणम्
Utathya’s Instruction: Royal Dharma, Restraint of Pride, Protection of Subjects
ममेदमिति नैवैतत् साधूनां तात धर्मत: । न वै व्यवस्था भवति यदा पापो न वार्यते
mamedam iti naivaitat sādhūnāṃ tāta dharmataḥ | na vai vyavasthā bhavati yadā pāpo na vāryate, tāta ||
Utathya sprach: „Mein Kind, für die Rechtschaffenen entspricht es nicht dem Dharma, darauf zu pochen: ‚Das ist mein.‘ Denn wenn ein Böser nicht gezügelt wird, kann keine feste sittliche Ordnung bestehen.“
उतथ्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that righteous life is not grounded in possessive clinging (“this is mine”); rather, dharma depends on actively restraining wrongdoing—if the wicked are left unchecked, moral and social order collapses.
Utathya addresses a listener as “tāta,” offering a moral instruction in the Shanti Parva’s discourse on dharma: he links the stability of ethical norms (vyavasthā) to the necessity of preventing sinful conduct.