Shloka 15
Gārhasthya-Śreṣṭhatā and Kṣatriya-Daṇḍadhāraṇa
Householder Primacy and the Royal Duty of Punishment
भूमिरेतौ निगिरति सर्पे बिलशयानिव । राजानं चाविरोद्धारं ब्राह्मणं चाप्रवासिनम्,'जैसे साँप बिलमें रहनेवाले चूहे आदि जीवोंको निगल जाता है, उसी प्रकार विरोध न करनेवाले राजा और परदेशमें न जानेवाले ब्राह्मण--इन दो व्यक्तियोंको भूमि निगल जाती है
bhūmir etau nigirati sarpe bilaśayān iva | rājānaṃ cāviroddhāraṃ brāhmaṇaṃ cāpravāsinam ||
Vyāsa said: “As a serpent swallows creatures that dwell in holes, so does the earth ‘swallow up’ these two: a king who offers no resistance (who fails to check wrongdoing) and a brāhmaṇa who does not go forth (who remains inactive instead of pursuing his proper discipline).”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Two forms of dereliction are condemned: a king who fails to restrain wrongdoing and protect order, and a brāhmaṇa who remains inactive instead of pursuing the disciplined obligations of his role. Both are said to be ‘swallowed by the earth,’ i.e., brought to ruin and obscurity by the consequences of neglected dharma.
Vyāsa delivers a proverbial warning within the Shānti Parva’s instruction on dharma: using the image of a serpent swallowing burrow-dwelling creatures, he states that the earth similarly consumes two negligent figures—an unresisting king and a brāhmaṇa who does not ‘go forth’—to stress accountability in governance and spiritual life.