Shloka 1
अध्याय ७२ — राजधर्मः: प्रजारक्षण, कर-नीति, दण्ड-नीति, अमात्य-नियोजन
Chapter 72 — Royal Duty: protection of subjects, taxation, punishment, and appointments
/ ऑपन--माजल बक। अकाल एकसप्ततितमो<् ध्याय: धर्मपूर्वक प्रजाका पालन ही राजाका महान् धर्म है
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: kathaṁ rājā prajā rakṣann ādhibandhena yujyate | dharmeṇa nāparādhnoti tan me brūhi pitāmaha ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Grandfather, how does a king, while protecting his subjects, avoid becoming entangled in anxiety and constraint? And how does he not incur fault against dharma? Tell me this.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a central problem of rājadharma: how a ruler can fulfill the heavy duty of protecting the people without falling into anxious entanglement, and how to govern without violating dharma—seeking a principled, ethically blameless mode of rule.
In Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira approaches Bhīṣma (addressed as Pitāmaha) for instruction on righteous governance. This opening question introduces the chapter’s discussion on the king’s duty to protect subjects and the ethical pressures that accompany rule.