Shloka 1333
Varṇa-dharma and Rājadharma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Outline (वर्णधर्म-राजधर्म-प्रश्नोत्तरम्)
पार्थिवो जायते तात दण्डनीतिविशारद: । तात! पुण्यका क्षय होनेपर मनुष्य स्वर्गलोकसे पृथिवीपर आता और दण्डनीतिविशारद राजाके रूपमें जन्म लेता है
pārthivo jāyate tāta daṇḍanīti-viśāradaḥ |
Bhīṣma said: “Dear child, when a person’s store of merit is exhausted, he descends from the heavenly world to the earth and is born as a king—one skilled in the science of punishment and governance (daṇḍanīti).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma links political authority to karmic causality: when accumulated merit is spent, a being returns to earth and may take birth as a ruler. Kingship is thus framed as a morally weighty role requiring expertise in daṇḍanīti—just governance, discipline, and protection aligned with dharma.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma addresses his listener affectionately (“tāta”) and explains how beings move between heaven and earth according to merit, describing the birth of a king skilled in governance as a result of such karmic transition.