Shloka 51
Daṇḍa as the Foundation of Social Order (दण्डप्रतिष्ठा)
पशूनां वृषणं छित्त्वा ततो भिन्दन्ति मस्तकम् | वहन्ति बहवो भारान् बध्नन्ति दमयन्ति च,बहुत-से मनुष्य पशुओं (बैलों)-का अण्डकोश काटकर फिर उसके मस्तकपर उगे हुए दोनों सींगोंको भी विदीर्ण कर देते हैं, जिससे वे अधिक बढ़ने न पावें। फिर उनसे भार ढुलाते हैं, उन्हें घरमें बाँधे रखते हैं और नये बच्छेको गाड़ी आदिमें जोतकर उसका दमन करते हैं--उनकी उद्दण्डता दूर करके उनसे काम करनेका अभ्यास कराते हैं
paśūnāṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ chittvā tato bhindanti mastakam | vahanti bahavo bhārān badhnanti damayanti ca ||
Arjuna said: “Many people first cut off the testicles of cattle (bulls/oxen) and then split or pierce the head—damaging the horns so that they do not grow further. After that, they make them carry heavy loads, keep them tied up at home, and by yoking a young calf to a cart and the like, they subdue it—removing its unruliness and training it to work.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how beings are forcibly controlled through mutilation, restraint, and training, raising an ethical reflection on cruelty and the means used to make others ‘useful.’ In the Shanti Parva’s moral discourse, such examples function to question what is truly dharmic—whether ends like obedience or productivity can justify harmful methods.
Arjuna describes common human practices of taming working cattle: castration, damaging the horns/head, binding them, loading them with burdens, and yoking young animals to carts to break their unruliness and habituate them to labor.