Shloka 15
राजधर्मः—राष्ट्ररक्षणं, दण्डनीतिः, हयग्रीवोपाख्यानम्
Royal Duty: Protection, Penal Policy, and the Hayagrīva Exemplum
घ्नन्ति चान्यान् नरा राजंस्तानप्यन्ये तथा नरा: । संज्ैषा लौकिकी राजन् न हिनस्ति न हन्यते,“राजन! मनुष्य दूसरोंको मारते हैं, फिर उन्हें भी दूसरे लोग मार देते हैं। नरेश्वर! यह मरना-मारना लौकिक संज्ञामात्र है। वास्तवमें न कोई मारता है और न मारा ही जाता है
ghnanti cānyān narā rājaṁs tān apy anye tathā narāḥ | saṁjñaiṣā laukikī rājan na hinasti na hanyate ||
Vyāsa said: “O King, men strike down others, and those very men are in turn struck down by other men. O ruler of men, this ‘killing and being killed’ is only a worldly designation. In truth, none truly kills, and none is truly killed.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes conventional speech from ultimate reality: in worldly terms people kill and are killed, but from the standpoint of the imperishable Self (ātman) there is no real slayer and no truly slain. This supports ethical reflection and detachment amid discussions of violence and duty.
Vyāsa addresses a king in the Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, explaining the recurring cycle of violence in human society and reframing it through a metaphysical lens: ‘killing’ is a common-world label, while the deeper truth denies ultimate destruction of the Self.