Shloka 47
Daṇḍotpatti-kathana (Origin and Function of Daṇḍa) — वसुहोम–मान्धातृ संवाद
सप्तप्रकृति चाष्टाड़ं शरीरमिह यद् विदु: । राज्यस्य दण्डमेवाडुं दण्ड: प्रभव एव च
saptaprakṛti cāṣṭāṅgaṁ śarīram iha yad viduḥ | rājyasya daṇḍam evāṅgaṁ daṇḍaḥ prabhava eva ca ||
Bhīṣma said: “Here, what the wise recognize as the ‘body’ of a kingdom is constituted by the seven fundamental elements and the eightfold apparatus. Yet among these, punishment and lawful coercive authority (daṇḍa) alone is the chief limb of sovereignty, for daṇḍa is itself the source that brings the whole system into effective being.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that although the kingdom is conceived as an organic body made of multiple constituents (seven prakṛtis and an eightfold apparatus), the decisive principle is daṇḍa—lawful coercive power—because it enables the functioning, protection, and stability of all other elements.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira on the structure of the state and the necessity of enforcement. He frames the polity as a body with many limbs, then emphasizes daṇḍa as the chief instrument by which a king maintains order and makes governance effective.