Shloka 9

Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma

Devanagari script

ऋषत्विक्‌पुरोहिताचार्यान्‌ सत्कृतानभिसत्कृतान्‌ । न ब्राह्मणान्‌ घातयीत दोषान्‌ प्राप्रोति घातयन्‌,कितनी ही आपत्ति क्‍यों न हो, ऋत्विक्‌ू, पुरोहित, आचार्य तथा सत्कृत या असत्कृत ब्राह्मणोंसे, वे धनी हों तो भी धन लेकर उन्हें पीड़ा न दे। यदि राजा उन्हें धनापहरणके द्वारा कष्ट देता है तो पापका भागी होता है

Transliteration

ṛṣatvik-purohitācāryān satkṛtān abhisatkṛtān | na brāhmaṇān ghātayīta doṣān prāpnoti ghātayan ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “One should not harm Brahmins—whether they are officiating priests (ṛtvij), household priests (purohita), or teachers (ācārya), whether they are honored or not honored. Whoever harms Brahmins incurs fault (sin). Even in times of severe distress, a king should not trouble them by seizing their wealth; if he causes them suffering through confiscation, he becomes a sharer in wrongdoing.”

Word by Word

• {'ṛṣatvik/ṛtvij': 'sacrificial officiant

• priest who performs rites', 'purohita': 'family/royal chaplain

• household priest', 'ācārya': 'teacher

• preceptor', 'satkṛta': 'honored

• treated with respect', 'abhisatkṛta': 'not honored / insufficiently honored (treated without due respect)', 'brāhmaṇa': 'a Brahmin

• here, a protected religious person', 'ghātayīta (√han, causative)': 'should cause harm/kill

• should injure or oppress', 'doṣa': 'fault

• sin', 'prāpnoti': 'attains

• becomes subject to', 'ghātayan': 'harming

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• brāhmaṇāḥ (Brahmins)
• ṛtvij (ṛṣatvik)
• purohita
• ācārya
• rājā (king, implied by the ethical injunction)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma teaches that harming Brahmins—especially priests and teachers—creates moral fault (doṣa). Even under crisis, a ruler should not oppress them or seize their wealth; governance must remain within dharma, and coercion against such protected persons is condemned.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous rule, Bhīṣma lays down a specific prohibition for kings: do not injure or harass Brahmins (whether honored or not), and do not cause them suffering through confiscation or force, because such acts make the ruler culpable.