Shloka 11
Purohita-Niyoga and the Brahma–Kṣatra Concord
Aila–Kaśyapa Saṃvāda
वे दोनों ब्राह्मण और क्षत्रिय सदा एक-दूसरेसे मिलकर रहें, तभी वे एक-दूसरेकी रक्षा करनेमें समर्थ होते हैं। ब्राह्मणकी उन्नतिका आधार क्षत्रिय होता है और क्षत्रियकी उन्नतिका आधार ब्राह्मण
tau dvau brāhmaṇa-kṣatriyau sadā parasparaṃ saṃmilitau tiṣṭhetām; tata eva tau paraspara-rakṣaṇe samarthau bhavataḥ. brāhmaṇasya unnateḥ ādhāraḥ kṣatriyaḥ, kṣatriyasya ca unnateḥ ādhāro brāhmaṇaḥ.
Kāśyapa said: “Let the two—Brahmin and Kshatriya—always live in mutual association; only then are they capable of protecting one another. The Kshatriya is the support of the Brahmin’s flourishing, and the Brahmin is the support of the Kshatriya’s flourishing.”
कश्यप उवाच
Educational Q&A
Society’s stability depends on reciprocal support: the Kshatriya provides protection and material order, while the Brahmin provides guidance, learning, and moral-spiritual authority; each prospers only when aligned with the other in dharma.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and governance, Kashyapa articulates a principle of cooperative interdependence between the priestly and ruling functions, emphasizing that neither can effectively safeguard the world—or even itself—without the other.