Shloka 12
राज्ञोऽभिषेकः, अराजकदोषः, दण्डधारणस्य आवश्यकता
Royal Consecration, the Fault of Kinglessness, and the Necessity of Enforcement
मर्दनं परराष्ट्राणां शिष्टार्थ सत्यविक्रम । कुर्वतः पुरुषव्याप्र वन्याश्रमपदं भवेत्
mardanaṁ pararāṣṭrāṇāṁ śiṣṭārtha satyavikrama | kurvataḥ puruṣavyāghra vanyāśramapadaṁ bhavet || satyaparākrāmī puruṣasiṁha yudhiṣṭhira | śiṣṭapuruṣāṇāṁ rakṣārthaṁ śatrurāṣṭrāṇi mardayan rājāpi vānaprasthasevanaphalaṁ prāpnoti ||
Bhīṣma said: “O Yudhiṣṭhira—true in valor, lion among men—when a king, for the sake of protecting the righteous and well-disciplined, crushes hostile kingdoms, he too attains the spiritual fruit associated with the forest-dweller’s stage (vānaprastha). The ethical point is that force, when exercised as disciplined protection of the good rather than as personal aggression, can be aligned with dharma and yield ascetic merit.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king’s use of force becomes dharmic when it is disciplined and aimed at protecting the righteous (śiṣṭas) and restraining hostile powers; such protective rulership can yield merit comparable to ascetic practice (vānaprastha).
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and explains that even acts of conquest—when undertaken to safeguard the good and uphold order—can be spiritually meritorious, not merely political.