Shloka 7
Śaṅkha–Likhita Upākhyāna: Daṇḍa, Confession, and the Purification of Kingship (शङ्ख-लिखितोपाख्यानम्)
“भरतनन्दन! कुन्तीकुमार! पहले याचकों, पितरों और देवताओंके ऋणसे उऋण हो लो, फिर वह सब करना ।। सर्वमेधाश्वमेधाभ्यां यजस्व कुरुनन्दन । ततः पश्चान्महाराज गमिष्यसि परां गतिम्
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
bharatanandana! kuntīkumāra! pūrvaṃ yācakānāṃ pitṝṇāṃ devatānāṃ ca ṛṇena uṛṇaḥ bhava, tataḥ paraṃ tat sarvaṃ kuru ||
sarvamedhāśvamedhābhyāṃ yajasva kurunandana |
tataḥ paścān mahārāja gamiṣyasi parāṃ gatim ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O delight of the Bharatas, O son of Kuntī—first free yourself from the debts you owe: to supplicants (through generosity), to the ancestors (through rites and continuity), and to the gods (through sacrifice). Only after becoming discharged from these obligations should you undertake everything else. Perform the Sarvamedha and the Aśvamedha, O joy of the Kurus; then, O great king, you will thereafter attain the highest state.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that a ruler (and by extension any householder) should first discharge foundational obligations—generosity to those who ask, rites and responsibility toward ancestors, and worship/sacrifice toward the gods—before pursuing other aims. Ethical life is framed as clearing ‘debts’ (ṛṇa) through dāna, pitṛ-kārya, and yajña, culminating in the highest good (parā gati).
In Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, Vaiśampāyana reports counsel addressed to the Kuru king (implicitly Yudhiṣṭhira): he is urged to fulfill religious and social duties and to perform major royal sacrifices (Sarvamedha and Aśvamedha). The advice links kingship with ritual responsibility and moral accountability, promising an exalted end after these duties are completed.